1997 in jazz
Fats Domino at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Decade	1990s in jazz
Music	1997 in music
Standards	List of post-1950 jazz standards
See also	1996 in jazz – 1998 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1997.

Events

March

• 21 – The 24th Vossajazz started in Voss, Norway (March 21 – 23).^[1]

May

• 16 – The 26th Moers Festival started in Moers, Germany (May 16 – 19).^[2]
• 21 – The 25th Nattjazz started in Bergen, Norway (May 21 – 31).^[3]

June

• 26 – The 18th Montreal International Jazz Festival started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (June 26 – July 6).^[4]

July

• 2 – The 7th Jazz Fest Wien started in Wien, Austria (July 2 – 13).^[5]
• 4 – The 31st Montreux Jazz Festival started in Montreux, Switzerland (July 4 – 19).^[6]
• 11
  • The 22nd North Sea Jazz Festival started in The Hague, Netherlands (July 11 – 13).^[7]
  • The 50th Nice Jazz Festival started in France (July 11 – 20).^[8]
• 12 – The 32nd Pori Jazz Festival started in Finland (July 12 – 20).^[9]
• 15 – The 38th Moldejazz started in Molde, Norway (July 15 – 20).^[10]

August

• 8 – The 14th Brecon Jazz Festival started in Brecon, Wales (August 8 – 10).^[11]

September

• 19 – The 40th Monterey Jazz Festival started in Monterey, California (September 19 – 21).^[12]

October

• 7 – Blue Note – A Story of Modern Jazz, by jazz documentarist and filmmaker Julian Benedikt, an award-winning documentary film.^[13]

Album releases

October

Unknown date

Deaths

January

• 8 – George Handy, American arranger, composer, and pianist (born 1920).
• 12 – Wally Rose, American pianist (born 1913).
• 16 – Beverly Peer, American upright bassist (born 1912).
• 25 – Seldon Powell, American tenor saxophonist and flautist (born 1928).

February

• 10 – Lou Bennett, American organist (born 1926).
• 14 – Charles Moffett, American drummer (born 1929).
• 20 – Zachary Breaux, American guitarist (born 1960).
• 23 – Tony Williams, American drummer (born 1945).

March

• 11 – Hugh Lawson, American pianist (born 1935).

May

• 10 – Bernard Anderson, American trumpeter (born 1919).
• 12 – Louis Barbarin, American drummer (born 1902).
• 14 – Thelma Carpenter, American singer and actress (born 1922).
• 15 – Tommy Turrentine, American trumpeter (born 1928).
• 18 – Horst Lippmann, German drummer, concert promoter, writer, and television director (born 1927).
• 31 – Eddie Jones, American upright bassist (born 1929).

June

• 2 – Doc Cheatham, American trumpeter, singer and bandleader (born 1905).
• 4
  • Anne Lenner, English singer (born 1912).
  • Johnny "Hammond" Smith, American organist (born 1933).
• 12 – Chuck Andrus, American upright bassist (born 1928).
• 14 – Arthur Prysock, American singer (born 1924).
• 16 – Rolf Ericson, Swedish trumpeter and flugelhornist (born 1922).
• 19 – Thurman Green, American trombonist (born 1940).

July

• 2 – Stan Barker, American pianist (born 1926).
• 29 – Chuck Wayne, American guitarist (born 1923).

August

• 2 – Fela Kuti, Nigerian saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist (born 1938).
• 8
  • Dardanelle Hadley, American singer, vibraphonist, pianist, composer, and arranger (born 1917).
  • Duncan Swift, British pianist (born 1943).
• 12 – Dick Marx, American pianist and arranger (born 1924).
• 14 – Eric Von Essen, American bassist, pianist, and composer (born 1954).
• 24 – Tete Montoliu, American pianist (born 1933).

September

• 18 – Jimmy Witherspoon, American singer (born 1920).
• 20 – Dick Shearer, American trombonist (born 1940).

October

• 29 – Big Nick Nicholas, American saxophonist and vocalist (born 1922).

November

• 2 – Carson Smith, American upright bassist (born 1931).
• 9 – Joe Roccisano, saxophonist and arranger (born 1939).
• 10 – Tommy Tedesco, American guitarist (born 1930).
• 11 – Shake Keane, American trumpeter and poet (born 1927).
• 12 – Carola Standertskjöld, Finnish singer (born 1941).

December

• 1 – Stéphane Grappelli, French violinist (born 1908).
• 6 – George Chisholm, American trombonist (born 1915).
• 12 – Mouse Randolph, American trumpeter (born 1909).
• 21 – Johnny Coles, American trumpeter (born 1926).
• 30 – Ray Crawford, American guitarist (born 1924).

Unknown date

• Johnny Mince, American clarinetist (born 1912).

Births

Unknown date

• Barbra Lica, Canadian jazz singer and songwriter.