In the 1990s in jazz, jazz rap continued progressing from the late 1980s and early 1990s, and incorporated jazz influence into hip hop. In 1988, Gang Starr released the debut single "Words I Manifest", sampling Dizzy Gillespie's 1962 "A Night in Tunisia", and Stetsasonic released "Talkin' All That Jazz", sampling Lonnie Liston Smith. Gang Starr's debut LP, No More Mr. Nice Guy (Wild Pitch, 1989), and their track "Jazz Thing" (CBS, 1990) for the soundtrack of Mo' Better Blues, sampling Charlie Parker and Ramsey Lewis. Gang Starr also collaborated with Branford Marsalis and Terence Blanchard. Groups making up the collective known as the Native Tongues Posse tended towards jazzy releases; these include the Jungle Brothers' debut Straight Out the Jungle (Warlock, 1988) and A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (Jive, 1990) and The Low End Theory (Jive, 1991).

In the 1990s and 2000s, a number of young musicians emerged, including US pianists Brad Mehldau, Jason Moran and Vijay Iyer, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Terence Blanchard, saxophonists Chris Potter and Joshua Redman, and bassist Christian McBride.

Well-established jazz musicians, such as Dave Brubeck, Wynton Marsalis, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Jessica Williams and George Benson, continue to perform and record.

In the 1990s, punk jazz and jazzcore began to reflect the increasing awareness of elements of extreme metal (particularly thrash metal and death metal) in hardcore punk. A new style of "metallic jazzcore" was developed by Iceburn, from Salt Lake City, and Candiria, from New York City, though anticipated by Naked City and Pain Killer. This tendency also takes inspiration from jazz inflections in technical death metal, such as the work of Cynic and Atheist.

1990

Album releases

Deaths

• Art Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990)
• Sarah Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990)
• Pearl Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990)
• Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990)
• Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932 – June 2, 1990)

1991

Album releases

Deaths

• Miles Davis (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991)^[1] American trumpeter, bandleader and composer
• Stan Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991)
• Pat Patrick (musician) (November 23, 1929 – December 31, 1991)
• Buck Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991)
• Bud Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991)
• King Kolax (November 6, 1912 – December 18, 1991)
• Charlie Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991)
• Slim Gaillard (January 4, 1916 – February 26, 1991)

1992

Album releases

Deaths

• Charlie Ventura (December 2, 1916 – January 17)
• Astor Piazzolla (March 11, 1921 – July 4)
• Ed Blackwell (October 10, 1929 – October 7)
• June Tyson (February 5, 1936 – November 24)
• Andy Kirk (May 28, 1898, in Newport, Kentucky – December 11)

1993

Album releases

Deaths

• Dizzy Gillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993)
• Kenny Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993)
• John Jenkins (January 3, 1931 – July 12, 1993)
• Sun Ra (May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993)
• George Wallington (October 27, 1924 – February 15, 1993)
• Fraser MacPherson (10 April 1928 – 27 September 1993)
• Clifford Jordan (September 2, 1931, Chicago – March 27, 1993)

1994

Album releases

Deaths

• Joe Pass (January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994)
• Carmen McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994)
• Cab Calloway (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994)
• Sonny Sharrock (August 27, 1940 – May 26, 1994)
• Connie Kay (27 April 1927 – 30 November 1994)

1995

Album releases

Deaths

• Art Taylor (April 6, 1929 – February 6, 1995)
• Don Cherry (November 18, 1936 – October 19, 1995)
• John Gilmore (September 28 or October 29, 1931 – August 19 or August 20, 1995)
• Earle Warren (1914–1995)

1996

Album releases

Deaths

• Ella Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996)
• Gerry Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996)
• Barney Wilen (March 4, 1937 – May 25, 1996)

1997

Album releases

• Guillermo Gregorio: Ellipsis (hatOLOGY)
• Matthew Shipp: Strata (hatOLOGY)
• Steve Coleman: Genesis & The Opening of the Way (RCA Victor)
• Marcus Roberts: Blues for the New Millennium (Columbia)
• ICP Orchestra: Jubilee Varia (hatOLOGY)
• Vandermark 5: Single Piece Flow (Atavistic)
• David Liebman: Time Immemorial (Enja)
• Wynton Marsalis: Blood on the Fields (Columbia)
• Franz Koglmann: O Moon My Pin Up (hatOLOGY)
• Courtney Pine: Underground (Verve)
• Wadada Leo Smith: Golden Hearts Remembrance (Chap Chap)
• David Liebman: The Elements: Water – Giver Of Life (Arkadia Jazz)
• Pat Metheny Group: Imaginary Day (Warner Bros.)
• Matthew Shipp: Before the World (FMP)
• Paul Plimley: Sensology (Maya Recordings)
• Matthew Shipp Quartet: The Flow of X (Thirsty Ear)
• Olga Konkova Trio: Her Point of View (Candid)

Deaths

• Tony Williams (December 12, 1945 — February 23, 1997)
• Tommy Turrentine (April 22, 1928 – May 15, 1997)
• Stéphane Grappelli (26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997)

1998

Album releases

• Dave Douglas: Convergence (Black Saint/Soul Note)
• Vandermark 5: Target or Flag (Atavistic)
• Zeena Parkins: No Way Back (Atavistic)
• Evan Parker: Drawn Inward (ECM)
• Dave Holland: Points of View (ECM)
• Keith Tippett and Mujician: Colours Fulfilled (Cuneiform)
• Eric Reed: Pure Imagination (Impulse!, GRP)
• World Saxophone Quartet: Selim Sivad: a Tribute to Miles Davis (Justin Time)
• Joe Lovano: Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note)
• Hans Mathisen featuring Kjersti Stubø: L.U.G.N

Deaths

• Frank Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998)
• Tal Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998)

1999

Album releases

Deaths

• Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999)
• Milt Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999)
• Art Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999)
• Clifford Jarvis (August 26, 1941 – November 26, 1999)
• Sweets Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999)
• Joe Williams (December 12, 1918 – March 29, 1999)
• Charles Earland (May 24, 1941 – December 11, 1999)