1956 in jazz
Musicians performing in Tom's Tavern club at Gonzalez and Railroad streets: Pensacola, Florida, 1956
Decade	1950s in jazz
Music	1956 in music
Standards	List of post-1950 jazz standards
See also	1955 in jazz –1957 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events ofJazz in the year 1956.

• 5 – The 5thNewport Jazz Festival started inNewport, Rhode Island (July 5 – 7).^[1]
• 7 –Duke Ellington and his band performs at the Newport Jazz Festival. The albumEllington at Newport devises a landmark performance which is capped by an amazing tenor saxophone solo byPaul Gonsalves on "Diminuendo" and "Crescendo in Blue".^[2]

Unknown date

• The guitaristMundell Lowe brings pianist Bill Evans to the attention of Orin Keepnews and Bill Grauer of Riverside records.
• Dizzy Gillespie meets Argentine pianist Lalo Schifrin and is impressed. Dizzy continues to gravitate to the Latin rhythms.
• Miles Davis and his quintet record four records (Cookin',Relaxin', Workin' andSteamin') for Prestige, spending only two days in the studio to complete. Miles also records 'Round about Midnight on the Columbia label.

May

• 13 –Don Kirkpatrick, American pianist and arranger (born1905).
• 15 –Adrian Rollini, American bass saxophonist (born1903).
• 30 –Valaida Snow, African-American jazz musician and entertainer (born1904).

June

• 11 –Frankie Trumbauer, American saxophonists (born1901).
• 26
  • Clifford Brown, American trumpeter (born1930).
  • Richie Powell, American bebop pianist (born1931).

July

• 7 –Alex Hyde, American bandleader and violinist (born 1898).
• 11 –Ernst Höllerhagen, German reedist (born1912).

September

• 8 –Fred Rich, Polish-born American bandleader and composer (born 1898).

October

• 18 –Harry Parry, Welsh clarinetist and bandleader (born1912).

November

• 5 –Art Tatum, American pianist and virtuoso (born1909).
• 7 –Una Mae Carlisle, American singer, pianist, and songwriter (born1915).
• 20 –Achille Baquet, American clarinetist and saxophonist (born 1885).
• 26 –Tommy Dorsey, American trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader (born1905).

Unknown date

• Joe Appleton, British saxophonist and clarinetist from the West Indies (born1900).

January

• 1 –Ziad Rahbani, Lebanese composer, pianist, playwright, and political commentator.
• 4
  • Alex Cline, American drummer.
  • Nels Cline, American guitarist and composer.
• 7 –Steve Williams, American drummer.
• 21 –Kevin Norton, American percussionist and composer.
• 23 –Ralph Carney, American saxophonist and clarinetist,Tin Huey (died2017).
• 24 –Mitchel Forman, American keyboardist.
• 26 –Steve Dobrogosz, American pianist and composer.

February

• 5 –Vinnie Colaiuta, American drummer.
• 11
  • Didier Lockwood, French violinist,Magma (died2018).
  • Raoul Björkenheim, Finnish-American guitarist.
• 15 –Nils Landgren, Swedish trombone player.
• 20 –Riccardo Del Fra, Italian upright bassist, bandleader, composer, and arranger.
• 28 –Jens Wendelboe, Norwegian trombonist and orchestra leader.

March

• 2 –Danilo Terenzi, Italian trombonist and composer (died1995).
• 4 –Kermit Driscoll, American bassist.

April

• 2 –Károly Binder, Hungarian pianist.
• 3 –Tessa Souter, English singer, songwriter, and writer.
• 4 –Gary Smulyan, American baritone saxophonist.
• 9 –Michael Hashim, American jazz alto saxophonist.
• 16 –T Lavitz, American keyboardist, composer and producer (died2010).
• 19 –Denardo Coleman, American drummer.
• 27 –Anna Lyman, Canadian Jazz, Latin Vocalist composer, and recording artist of Mexican American extraction.

May

• 5 –Mary Coughlan, Irish jazz and folk singer, and actress.
• 8 –Jean-Marc Jafet, French bassist and guitarist.
• 13 –Oskar Aichinger, Austrian pianist.^[3]
• 14 –Bruce Forman, American guitarist.
• 15 –Mathias Claus, German jazz pianist and composer.
• 21 –Wolfgang Puschnig, Austrian saxophonist.
• 26 –Quanti Bomani, Afro-Caribbean multi-instrumentalist and composer.

June

• 5 –Kenny G, American saxophonist.
• 8 –Uri Caine, American pianist and composer.
• 11 –Jamaaladeen Tacuma, American bassist.
• 19 –Aaron Scott, American composer and drummer.
• 26 –Bill Cunliffe, American jazz pianist and composer.
• 27 –Maria João, Portuguese singer.

July

• 5 –Billy Jenkins, English guitarist, composer, and bandleader.
• 6 –John Jorgenson, American guitarist and banjo player,Desert Rose Band andHellecasters.
• 17 –Lucien Barbarin, American trombonist.
• 18 –Hein van de Geyn, Dutch upright bassist, composer and band leader.
• 19 –Marit Sandvik, Norwegian singer.
• 21 –Franklin Kiermyer, Canadian drummer, composer and bandleader.
• 24 –Denis Colin, French bass clarinettist and composer.
• 26 –Wayne Krantz, American guitarist.

August

• 13 –Gast Waltzing, Luxembourgian trumpeter and composer.^[4]
• 15 –Lorraine Desmarais, French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer.
• 24 –Mimi Fox, American guitarist and educator.
• 29 –Doug Raney, American guitarist (died2016).
• 30 - Rodney Jones, American guitarist and educator.

September

• 1 –Hilde Hefte, Norwegian singer.
• 8 –Eivin One Pedersen, Norwegian accordionist and pianist (died2012).
• 12 –Brian Lynch, American trumpeter.
• 15 –
  • Ned Rothenberg, American multi-instrumentalist and composer.
  • George Howard, American saxophonist (died1998).
• 19 –Wolfgang Lackerschmid, German vibraphonist, bandleader, and composer.
• 20 –Steve Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.

October

• 9 –Geir Langslet, Norwegian pianist.
• 10 –Johnny O'Neal, American pianist and vocalist.
• 20 –Martin Taylor, British guitarist.
• 22 –Jane Bunnett, Canadian soprano saxophonist, flautist, and bandleader.
• 23
  • Dianne Reeves, American singer.
  • Svein Dag Hauge, Norwegian guitarist.
• 26 –Mike LeDonne, American pianist and organist.
• 27 –Ben Besiakov, Danish pianist and keyboardist.
• 28 –Liz Story, American pianist and composer.
• 29 –David Chesky, American pianist, composer, producer, arranger, and co-founder of the labelChesky Records.
• 31 –Bob Belden, American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and producer (died2015).

November

• 1 –Tim Landers, American bass guitarist, composer and record producer.
• 2 –Frank Kimbrough, American pianist.
• 7
  • Denise Jannah, Dutch vocalist.
  • Iro Haarla, Finnish pianist and composer.
  • Mikhail Alperin, Ukrainian born jazz pianist, member of theMoscow Art Trio, professor at theNorwegian Academy of Music (died2018).
• 10 –Louis Mhlanga, Zimbabwean guitarist.
• 12 –Satoshi Inoue, Japanese guitarist.
• 18 –Tiziano Tononi, Italian percussionist and composer.

December

• 3 –Rob Waring, American-Norwegian vibraphonist.
• 5 –Randy Johnston, American guitarist.
• 12 –Geir Holmsen, Norwegian bassist.
• 18 –Chris Murrell, American singer (died2017).
• 21 –Zeena Parkins, American harpist.
• 24 –Ralph Moore, English saxophonist.
• 27 –Karl Denson, American saxophonist, flutist, and vocalist.

Unknown date

• Chris Wilson, Australian singer and guitarist (died2019).^[5]
• Gregg Karukas, smooth jazz pianist.
• Lee Pui Ming, Hong Kong-born American pianist, vocalist, and composer.
• Nicola Stilo, Italian flautist, guitarist, and pianist.
• Raymond Strid, Swedish drummer.
• Reiner Michalke, German musician and artistic director of theMoers Festival.

• 1950s in jazz
• List of years in jazz
• 1956 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 978-1-4234-2452-9.
• 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: 1956 atAll About Jazz

This list of songs or music-related items isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(October 2021)

• 1956 in music
• Jazz by year

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Dynamic lists
• Incomplete music lists
• Incomplete lists from October 2021