1959 in jazz

By Artist Name

• Cannonball Adderley – Cannonball Takes Charge, In San Francisco (Riverside)
• Cannonball Adderley & John Coltrane – Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago (Mercury)
• Chet Baker – Chet (Riverside)
• Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – Holiday for Skins (Blue Note)
• Dave Brubeck – Time Out (album) (Columbia)
• Donald Byrd – Fuego, Byrd in Hand (Blue Note)
• Sonny Clark – My Conception (Blue Note)
• Ornette Coleman – Tomorrow Is the Question! (OJC) The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic)
• Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (Columbia)
• Walter Davis – Davis Cup (album) (Blue Note)
• Kenny Dorham – Quiet Kenny (New Jazz)
• Duke Ellington – The Ellington Suites (OJC) Jazz Party, Festival Session, Anatomy of a Murder (Columbia)
• Bill Evans Trio – Portrait in Jazz (Riverside)
• Jimmy Giuffre – The Easy Way (album) (Verve)
• Benny Golson – Gone with Golson, Groovin' with Golson (OJC)
• Chico Hamilton – The Three Faces of Chico (Warner Bros.) Gongs East! (Discovery)
• Coleman Hawkins – Hawk Eyes, (OJC) Coleman Hawkins with the Red Garland Trio (Prestige)
• Johnny Hodges and Duke Ellington – Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues, Side by Side (Verve)
• Milt Jackson and John Coltrane – Bags & Trane (Atlantic)
• Wynton Kelly – Kelly Blue (Contemporary)
• Stan Kenton – Standards in Silhouette (Capitol)
• Yusef Lateef – Cry! – Tender (Prestige)
• Abbey Lincoln – Abbey Is Blue (Riverside/OJC)
• Jackie McLean – New Soil, Swing, Swang, Swingin' (Blue Note)
• Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Dynasty (Columbia), Blues and Roots (Atlantic)
• Blue Mitchell – Blue Soul (Riverside)
• Thelonious Monk – Thelonious Alone in San Francisco, The Thelonious Monk Orchestra at Town Hall, 5 by Monk by 5 (Riverside/OJC)
• Wes Montgomery – The Wes Montgomery Trio (Riverside/OJC)
• Gerry Mulligan – Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster (Verve)
• Oliver Nelson – Meet Oliver Nelson (OJC)
• Art Pepper – Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics (Contemporary/OJC)
• Sun Ra and His Arkestra – Jazz in Silhouette (Saturn)
• Max Roach – The Many Sides of Max (Mercury)
• George Russell – New York, N.Y. (album) (Impulse)
• Horace Silver – Blowin' the Blues Away, Finger Poppin' (Blue Note)
• Jimmy Smith – The Sermon! (Blue Note)
• Frank Strozier – Fantastic Frank Strozier (Vee Jay)
• Dinah Washington- What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! (Mercury)
• Ben Webster – Ben Webster and Associates (Verve)
• Curtis Fuller - Blues-ette (Savoy)

January

• 3 – Ed Cuffee, American trombonist (born 1902).
• 30 – Boyce Brown, American dixieland alto saxophonist (born 1910).

February

• 14 – Baby Dodds, American drummer (born 1898).

March

• 15 – Lester Young, American tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and bandleader (born 1909).

May

• 5 – Hal McIntyre, American saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader (born 1914).
• 14 – Sidney Bechet, American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer (born 1897).

June

• 5 – Lawrence Marrero, American banjoist (born 1900).
• 23 – Boris Vian, French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer (born 1920).

July

• 11 – Shadow Wilson, American drummer (born 1919).
• 17 – Billie Holiday, American singer nicknamed "Lady Day" (born 1915).

September

• 17 – Omer Simeon, American clarinetist (born 1902).

October

• 14 – Alphonse Trent, American jazz pianist and territory band leader (born 1905).
• 16 – Minor Hall, American drummer (born 1897).

December

• 2 – Sidney Desvigne, American trumpeter (born 1893).
• 10 – Avery Parrish, American jazz pianist, composer and arranger (born 1917).
• 13 – Charlie Johnson, American bandleader and pianist (born 1891).

January

• 11 – Simon Nabatov, Russian pianist.
• 14 – Nguyên Lê, French-Vietnamese guitarist.
• 16 – Sade Adu, British singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer.
• 20 – Antoine Hervé, French composer and pianist.
• 24 – Nils Mathisen, Norwegian keyboardist.
• 28 – Bill Ware, American vibraphonist.

February

• 1 – Ottmar Liebert, German guitarist, songwriter and producer
• 9 – Russel Walder, American oboist.
• 12 – Omar Hakim, American drummer.
• 27
  • Akira Jimbo, Japanese drummer, Casiopea.
  • Clayton Cameron, American drummer.
• 28 – Phil Roy, American singer.

March

• 10 – Rita Marcotulli, Italian pianist and composer.
• 16 – John Lindberg, American upright bassist.
• 18 – Joe Locke, American vibraphonist, composer, and educator.
• 21 – Renato D'Aiello, Italian saxophonist.
• 25 – Per Hillestad, Norwegian drummer.
• 30 – Nils Jansen, Norwegian saxophonist and clarinetist.

April

• 5
  • Elin Rosseland, Norwegian singer, bandleader, and composer.
  • John Parricelli, English guitarist.
• 10 – Brian Setzer, American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
• 18 – Salman Gambarov, Azerbaijani pianist and composer.
• 19 – Rebecca Jenkins, Canadian actress and singer.
• 23 – Thilo Berg, German drummer.
• 25
  • Burhan Öçal, Turkish percussionist and vocalist.
  • Paul Goldberg, American drummer.
• 27
  • Odd Magne Gridseth, Norwegian bassist.
  • Scott Robinson, American saxophonist.

May

• 9 – Dennis Chambers, American drummer.
• 14 – Virginia Mayhew, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.
• 23 – Ken Peplowski, American clarinetist and tenor saxophonist.
• 28 – Eddie Parker, English flautist and composer.

June

• 9 – Gregg Bissonette, American drummer.
• 14 – Marcus Miller, American bassist.
• 15 – Vicki Genfan, American American singer, guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist.
• 19
  • Billy Drummond, American drummer.
  • Roberto Magris, Italian pianist and composer.
• 29 – Rene Van Verseveld, Dutch musician, songwriter, recording engineer, composer, and record producer.

July

• 10 – Anjani, American singer-songwriter and pianist.
• 16 – Joanna MacGregor, British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator.
• 23 – Alan Barnes, English clarinetist and saxophonist.
• 27 – Jeff Harnar, American singer.
• 31 – Stanley Jordan, American guitarist and pianist.

August

• 1 – Otomo Yoshihide, Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist.
• 6 – Sigurd Køhn, Norwegian saxophonist (died 2004).
• 7 – Patrick Defossez, Belgian composer, pianist and improviser.
• 9 – Frank Lacy, American trombonist, Mingus Big Band.
• 11 – Russ Gershon, American saxophonist and composer.
• 14 – Tony Monaco, American organist.
• 16 – Ellery Eskelin, American tenor saxophonist.
• 20 – Gaute Storaas, Norwegian bass guitarist and composer.
• 27 – Frode Fjellheim, Norwegian keyboardist and joker.
• 29 – Ernesto Rodrigues, Portuguese composer, violinist, violist and electronic musician.

September

• 13 – Sheldon Reynolds, American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.
• 21 – Corinne Drewery, English singer-songwriter.
• 22 – Tony Reedus, American drummer (died 2008).
• 26 – François Bourassa, Canadian pianist.

October

• 12 – Michael Philip Mossman, trumpeter.
• 15 – Erik Vermeulen, Belgian pianist.
• 18 – Jimmy Bosch, Puerto Rican-American trombonist composer and bandleader.
• 19 – Ronnie Burrage, American drummer.
• 20 – Ole Hamre, Norwegian drummer.
• 21 – Cleveland Watkiss, British virtuoso vocalist, actor, and composer.

November

• 1 – Conrad Herwig, American trombonist.
• 3 – Mary Ann Redmond, American singer.
• 18 – Cindy Blackman Santana, American drummer.
• 20 – Drew Gress, American upright bassist and composer.
• 30 – Kris Defoort, Belgian pianist and composer.

December

• 13 – Staffan William-Olsson, Swedish guitarist and composer.
• 16 – Graham Clark, English violinist.
• 22
  • Del Rey, American singer and guitarist.
  • John Patitucci, American upright bassist.
• 25
  • Dale Barlow, Australian saxophonist, flautist, and composer.
  • Zim Ngqawana, South African flautist and saxophonist (died 2011).
• 30 – Kåre Thomsen, Norwegian guitarist.

Unknown date

• Albert Beger, Israeli saxophonist, flutist, and academy lecturer.
• Antonio Ciacca, Italian pianist.
• Bjørn Jenssen, Norwegian drummer
• Dominique Di Piazza, French bassist.
• Kevyn Lettau, Brazilian vocalist.
• Sue Terry, American saxophonist and composer.
• Sweet Baby J'ai, American singer.
• Tahir Aydoğdu, Turkish virtuoso qanun (kanun) player
• Ted Rosenthal, American pianist.

• Grammy Awards of 1959
  • Best Jazz Performance Solo or Small Group
  • Best Jazz Performance Large Group
  • Best Jazz Composition of More Than Five Minutes Duration

• 1950s in jazz
• List of years in jazz
• 1959 in music

• The New Real Book, Volume I. Sher Music. 1988. ISBN 0-9614701-4-3.
• The New Real Book, Volume II. Sher Music. 1991. ISBN 0-9614701-7-8.
• The New Real Book, Volume III. Sher Music. 1995. ISBN 1-883217-30-X.
• The Real Book, Volume I (6th ed.). Hal Leonard. 2004. ISBN 0-634-06038-4.
• The Real Book, Volume II (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard. 2007. ISBN 1-4234-2452-2.
• The Real Book, Volume III (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard. 2006. ISBN 0-634-06136-4.
• The Real Jazz Book. Warner Bros. ISBN 978-91-85041-36-7.
• The Real Vocal Book, Volume I. Hal Leonard. 2006. ISBN 0-634-06080-5.

• History Of Jazz Timeline: 1959 at All About Jazz