1986 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1986.

Events

16 – 15th Moers Festival started in Moers, Germany.21 – 14th Nattjazz started in Bergen, Norway.

; January26 – Ken Moule, English pianist, composer, and arranger.29 – Everett Barksdale, American guitarist.
; February26 – Karel Vlach, Czech musician, orchestra conductor, and arranger.
; March21 – Raymond Burke, American clarinetist.
; April26 – Cliff Leeman, American drummer.
; May19 – Jimmy Lyons, American alto saxophonist.30 – Hank Mobley, American tenor saxophonist.
; June13 – Benny Goodman, American clarinetist and bandleader.29 – Cliff Townshend, English saxophonist and clarinetist.
; July3 – Curley Russell, American upright bassist.31 – Teddy Wilson, American pianist.
; August21 – Thad Jones, American trumpeter.
; September2 – Billy Taylor, American upright bassist.10 – Pepper Adams, American baritone saxophonist and composer.
; October22 – Thorgeir Stubø, Norwegian guitarist, band leader, and composer.27 – Alan Branscombe, English pianist, vibraphonist, and alto saxophonist.
; November3 – Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, American tenor saxophonist.23 – Svein Øvergaard, Norwegian saxophonist and percussionist.
; December2 – Paul Bascomb, American tenor saxophonist.
; Unknown date

; January2 – Trombone Shorty, American trombonist, vocalist and composer.4 – Theo Jackson, British songwriter, pianist and vocalist.12 – Philip Schjetlein, Norwegian guitarist.27 – Takashi Matsunaga, Japanese pianist and composer.
; March10 – Justin Kauflin, American pianist, composer, and record producer.11 – Ayumi Tanaka, Japanese pianist.19 – Susanne Sundfør, Norwegian singer and songwriter.
; April20 – Roxy Coss, American saxophonist and composer.23 – Laura Mvula, British singer, songwriter, and composer.
; May18 – Adam Bałdych, Polish violinist, composer, music producer.26 – Kit Downes, British pianist and composer.
; June24 – Ivan Blomqvist, Swedish pianist, keyboarder, and composer.
; July11 – Jakop Janssønn Hauan, Norwegian drummer.21 – Rebecca Ferguson, British singer and songwriter.
; October10

; November8 – Nikola Rachelle, British singer and songwriter.11 – Jon Batiste, American singer, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader.12 – Jonas Kilmork Vemøy, Norwegian trumpeter, and composer.13 – Miss Tati, Norwegian DJ, singer, and songwriter.
; December2 – Tal Wilkenfeld, Australian bass guitarist.27 – Pablo Held, German pianist and composer.29 – Sullivan Fortner, American pianist and composer.
; Unknown date