1988 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1988.

Events

6 – Jazz guitarist Larry Carlton is shot in a random gun shooting outside his Los Angeles studios.

; January8 – Ray Bauduc, American drummer.
; February24 – Miff Görling, Swedish bandleader, trombonist, arranger, and composer.
;March1 – Tommy Potter, American upright-bassist.8 – Ken Colyer, English trumpeter and cornetist.20 – Gil Evans, Canadian pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader.
; April3 – Kai Ewans, Danish reedist.15 – Eliza Doolittle, British singer-songwriter.19 – Ed Burke, American violinist and trombonist.
;May13 – Chet Baker, American trumpeter and singer.28 – Sy Oliver, American trumpeter, singer, composer, arranger and bandleader.
;July2 – Eddie Vinson, American alto saxophonist and blues shouter.
; August15 – Bill Beason, American drummer.27 – Irene Higginbotham, African American songwriter and concert pianist.
; September5 – Lawrence Brown, American trombonist.27 – J. C. Heard, American drummer.
; October8 – Edward Inge, American arranger and reedist.
; November30

; December8

* Gene Quill, American alto saxophonist.
* Thore Swanerud, Swedish pianist, vibraphonist, arranger, conductor, and composer.

; Unknown date

; January28 – Casimir Liberski, Belgian pianist and keyboarder.
; February5 – Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson, Norwegian upright bassist.26 – Christian Meaas Svendsen, Norwegian upright bassist.
; April1 – Sam Mtukudzi, Zimbabwean saxophonist and guitarist.22 – Nitcho Reinhardt, French guitarist.
; May29 – Kelly Sweet, American singer and songwriter.
; May2 – Guilherme Rodrigues, Portuguese composer, improviser, and sound artist.7 – David Aleksander Sjølie, Norwegian guitarist.17 – Brittany Anjou, American pianist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer.
; July31 – Andreas Wildhagen, Norwegian drummer.
; August17 – Natalie Sandtorv, Norwegian singer, percussionist, and electronica artist.28 – Kjetil Jerve, Norwegian pianist and composer.
; September1 – Martina Bárta, Czech singer and French hornist.
; October19 – Pasquale Grasso, Italian guitarist.
; November25 – Victoria Hart, California-born English singer.27 – Sandra Nankoma, Ugandan singer, songwriter and actress.
; December3 – Melissa Aldana, Chilean tenor saxophonist.23 – Thomai Apergi, Greek singer and guitarist.
; Unknown date