1998 in jazz

Events

January

• 29 – The very first Polarjazz started in Longyearbyen, Svalbard.

  April

• 3 – The 25th Vossajazz started in Voss, Norway.

  May

• 20 – The 26th Nattjazz started in Bergen, Norway.

  June

• 2 – The 27th Moers Festival started in Moers, Germany.

  July

• 1 – The 19th Montreal International Jazz Festival started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• 2 – The 8th Jazz Fest Wien started in Wien, Austria.
• 3 – The 32nd Montreux Jazz Festival started in Montreux, Switzerland.
• 10
• * The 23rd North Sea Jazz Festival started in The Hague, Netherlands.
• * The 33rd Pori Jazz started in Pori, Finland.

  August

• 7 – The 15th Brecon Jazz Festival started in Brecon, Wales.

  September

• 18 – The 41st Monterey Jazz Festival started in Monterey, California.

  Album releases

• Dave Douglas: Convergence
• Paul Plimley: Sensology
• Vandermark 5: Target Dr Flag
• Zeena Parkins: Pan-Acousticon
• Evan Parker: Drawn Inward
• Dave Holland: Points of View
• Roy Campbell: Ancestral Homeland
• Hugh Masekela: Black to the Future

  Deaths

• 1 – Dave Schildkraut, American alto saxophonist.
• 8 – Jimmy Butts, American upright bassist.
• 16 – Tommy Pederson, American trombonist and composer.
• 22 – Anselmo Sacasas, Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer, and arranger.
• 24 – Walter Bishop Jr., American pianist.
• 25 – Attila Zoller, American guitarist.
• 26 – Orlando DiGirolamo, American accordionist, pianist, and composer.

• 5 – Nick Webb, English guitarist and composer, Acoustic Alchemy.
• 13 – Thomas Chapin, American composer, saxophonist, and multi-instrumentalist.

• 2 – Marzette Watts, American tenor and soprano saxophonist.
• 12 – Red Richards, American pianist.
• 15 – Tim Maia, Brazilian musician, songwriter and businessman.
• 24 – Denis Charles, American drummer.
• 27 – Jimmy Campbell, American drummer.

• 3 – Alvin Tyler, American saxophonist and arranger.
• 9 – Tom Cora, American cellist and composer.
• 21 – Helen Ward, American singer.
• 24 – Mel Powell, American pianist, composer and educator.

• 5 – Syd Lawrence, British trumpeter and bandleader.
• 7 – Blue Lu Barker, American singer.
• 8 – Raymond Premru, American trombonist and composer.
• 14 – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor.
• 19 – Dorothy Donegan, American pianist.
• 22 – Milton Banana, American drummer.
• 24 – George Kelly, American tenor saxophonist, vocalist and arranger.
• 27 – Spencer Clark, American bass saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist.
• 28 – Joe Dixon, American reedist.
• 29 – Ted Dunbar, American guitarist, composer and educator .

• 8 – Harry Lookofsky, American violinist.
• 10
• * Bobby Bryant, American trumpeter and flugelhorn player.
• * Jimmy Henderson, American trombonist and bandleader.
• 20 – Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist.
• 22 – Benny Green, British saxophonist.

• 2 – Errol Parker, French-Algerian pianist.
• 11 – Guy Lafitte, American tenor saxophonist.
• 14 – Beryl Bryden, English singer.
• 25 – Tal Farlow, American guitarist.
• 28 – Dorothy Sloop, American pianist.

• 6 – Nat Gonella, American trumpeter, bandleader and vocalist.
• 11 – Benny Waters, American saxophonist and clarinetist.
• 16 – Milton Adolphus, American pianist and composer.
• 22 – Jimmy Skidmore, English tenor saxophonist.
• 24 – Carl Barriteau, Trinidadian clarinetist.

• 6 – Bob Hames, American guitarist.
• 15 – Barrett Deems, American drummer.
• 16 – Andrzej Trzaskowski, Polish composer, pianist, and musicologist.
• 26 – Betty Carter, American singer, composer, and bandleader.

• 8 – Glenn Spearman, American tenor saxophonist.
• 31 – Sherwood Johnson, American jazz patron and the founder in 1954 of Shakey's Pizza.

• 12 – Kenny Kirkland, American pianist and keyboardist.
• 20 – Roland Alphonso, Jamaican tenor saxophonist, The Skatalites.
• 29 – George Van Eps, American guitarist.

• 2 – Bob Haggart, American upright bassist, composer and arranger.
• 4 – Egil Johansen, Norwegian-Swedish drummer.
• 26 – Dick Grove, American pianist and composer.

• David Earle Johnson, American percussionist, a composer and a music producer.

  Births

• 12 – Fergus McCreadie, Scottish pianist, composer, and band leader.

• Sasha Berliner, American vibraphonist, percussionist, composer, producer, and band leader.