2008 in jazz
Avishai Cohen at Moers Festival 2008.
Decade	2000s in jazz
Music	2008 in music
Standards	List of jazz standards
See also	2007 in jazz – 2009 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 2008.

Events

January

• 30 – The 11th Polarjazz Festival started in Longyearbyen, Svalbard (January 30 – February 2).^[1]

February

• 21 – The 3rd Ice Music Festival Festival started in Geilo, Norway (February 21–24).^[2]

March

• 7 – The 4th Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival started in Jakarta, Indonesia (March 7–9).^[3]
• 11 – Jazz musician and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttelton announces his retirement from presenting BBC Radio 2's jazz programme after forty years.^[4]
• 14
  • The 35th Vossajazz started at Voss, Norway (March 14–16).^[5]
  • Mads Berven was awarded Vossajazzprisen 2008.^[6]
• 19 – Tord Gustavsen performs the commissioned work Restar av lukke – bitar av tru for Vossajazz 2008.^[7]
• 31 – theJazz radio station stops broadcasting.^[8]

April

• 18
  • The International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) ceased daily operations and filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the United States Federal Bankruptcy Law, ending 40 years of service.^[9]
• 24 – The 14th SoddJazz started in Inderøy, Norway (April 24–28).^[10]

May

• 9 – The 37th Moers Festival started in Moers, Germany (May 9 – 12).^[11]
• 21 – The 36th Nattjazz started in Bergen, Norway (May 21 – 31).^[12]

June

• 26 – The 28th Montreal International Jazz Festival started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (June 26 - July 6).^[13]
• 27 – The 20th Jazz Fest Wien started in Vienna, Austria (June 27 – July 17).^[14]
• 29
  • The first annual International Jazz Awards, a global 2 hour television special celebrating over 100 years of Jazz music, took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.^[15]

July

• 2 – The 44th Kongsberg Jazzfestival started in Kongsberg, Norway (July 2 – 5).^[16]
• 4
  • The 30th Copenhagen Jazz Festival started in Copenhagen, Denmark (July 4 – 13).^[17]
  • The 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival started in Montreux, Switzerland (July 4 – 19).^[18]
• 11 – The 33rd North Sea Jazz Festival started in The Hague, Netherlands (July 11 – 13).^[19]
• 14
  • The 48th Moldejazz started in Molde, Norway (July 14 – 19).^[20]
  • The 43rd Pori Jazz Festival started in Pori, Finland (July 14 – 20).^[21]
• 16 – The 25th Stockholm Jazz Festival started in Stockholm, Sweden (July 16 – 19).^[22]
• 19 – The 61st Nice Jazz Festival started in Nice, France (July 19 – 25).^[23]
• 22 – The 43rd San Sebastian Jazz Festival started in San Sebastian, Spain (July 22 – 27).^[24]

August

• 6 – The 22nd Sildajazz started in Haugesund, Norway (August 6 – 10).^[25]
• 8
  • The 52ndd Newport Jazz Festival started in Newport, Rhode Island (August 8 – 10).^[26]
  • The 24th Brecon Jazz Festival started in Brecon, Wales (August 8 – 10).^[27]
• 11 – The 23rd Oslo Jazzfestival started in Oslo, Norway (August 11 – 16).^[28]

September

• 4 – The 4th Punktfestivalen started in Kristiansand, Norway (September 4 – 6).^[29]
• 19 – The 51st Monterey Jazz Festival started in Monterey, California (September 19 – 21).^[30]

October

November

• 14 – The 17th London Jazz Festival started in England (November 14 – 23).^[31]

December

Album released

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

All critically reviewed albums ranked

Metacritic

Deaths

January

• 4
  • Irene Reid, American singer (born 1930).
  • Keith Smith, English trumpeter (born 1940).
• 11
  • Pete Candoli, American trumpeter (prostate cancer) (born 1923).^[45]
  • Steve Harris, English drummer and composer (born 1948).
• 20 – Tommy McQuater, British trumpeter (born 1914).^[46]
• 30
  • Bill Saragih, Indonesian musician (born 1933).
  • Miles Kington, British journalist and upright bassist, Instant Sunshine (born 1941).

February

• 3 – Jackie Orszaczky, Hungarian bass guitarist and composer (born 1948).^[47]
• 4 – Chris Anderson, American pianist (born 1926).
• 12 – John Brunious, American trumpeter and the bandleader, Preservation Hall Jazz Band (born 1940).
• 13 – Henri Salvador, French Caribbean comedian and singer (born 1917).
• 14 – Gene Allen, American jazz reedist (born 1928).
• 19 – Teo Macero, American saxophonist, record producer and composer (born 1925).^[48]

March

• 2 – Jeff Healey, Canadian singer and guitarist (born 1966).^[49]
• 10 – Dennis Irwin, American upright bassist (born 1951).
• 16 – Pete Chilver, British guitarist and hotelier (born 1924).
• 19 – Eivind Solberg, Norwegian trumpeter (born 1933).^[50]
• 21 – Patti Bown, American jazz pianist, composer, and singer (born 1931).
• 22 – Israel López Valdés or better known as Cachao, Cuban upright bassist and composer (born 1918).^[51]
• 24 – Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (born 1955).
• 29 – Allan Ganley, British drummer (born 1931).^[52]

April

• 7 – Phil Urso, American jazz tenor saxophonist and composer (born 1925).
• 12 – Bobby Tucker, American pianist and arranger (born 1923).
• 15 – Dick Charlesworth, English clarinettist, saxophonist, and bandleader (born 1932).
• 24 – Jimmy Giuffre, American musician (pneumonia) (born 1921).^[53]
• 25 – Humphrey Lyttelton, British jazz musician (born 1921).^[54]
• 27 – Hal Stein, American saxophonist (born 1928).

May

• 6 – Franz Jackson, American saxophonist (born 1912).^[55]
• 10 – Mario Schiano, Italian alto and soprano saxophonist (born 1933).
• 15
  • Bob Florence, American pianist (born 1932).^[56]
  • Walt Dickerson, American vibraphonist (born 1928).
• 24 – Jimmy McGriff, (multiple sclerosis), American organist (born 1936).^[57]
• 28 – Danny Moss, British jazz saxophonist (born 1927).^[58]
• 30
  • Campbell Burnap, British trombonist and broadcaster (cancer) (born 1939).^[59]
  • Nat Temple, British big band leader (born 1913).^[60]

June

• 4 – Bill Finegan, American pianist and arranger (born 1917).^[61]
• 14 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish pianist (Scuba diving accident) (born 1964).^[62]
• 28 – Ronnie Mathews, American pianist (born 1935).

July

• 3
  • Harald Heide-Steen Jr., (lung cancer), Norwegian actor, comedian and jazz singer (born 1939).^[63]
  • Salah Ragab, Egyptian drummer and called the founder Egyptian jazz (born 1936).
• 6 – Bobby Durham, American drummer (born 1937).^[64]
• 13 – Gerald Wiggins, American pianist (born 1922).^[65]
• 22 – Joe Beck, American guitarist (lung cancer) (born 1945).^[66]
• 25
  • Hiram Bullock, American fusion guitarist (throat cancer) (born 1955).^[67]
  • Johnny Griffin, American saxophonist (heart attack) (born 1928).^[68]
• 31
  • Lee Young, American drummer and singer (born 1914).^[69]
  • Yusuf Salim, American jazz pianist and composer (born 1929).

August

• 15 – Jerry Wexler, American music journalist and music producer (born 1917).
• 19 – LeRoi Moore, American saxophonist (Dave Matthews Band) (born 1961).^[70]
• 23 – Jimmy Cleveland, American trombonist (born 1926).

September

• 2 – Arne Domnérus, Swedish saxophonist (born 1924).^[71]
• 3
  • Géo Voumard, Swiss jazz pianist and composer (born 1920).
  • Pierre Van Dormael, Belgian musician and composer (born 1952).
• 8 – Bheki Mseleku, South African musician (piano, saxophone, guitar) and composer (diabetes-related) (born 1955).^[72]
• 15 – Richard Wright, English keyboardist, composer, singer and songwriter (born 1943).^[73]
• 16 – Jim Aton, American bassist (born 1925).^[74]
• 19
  • Dick Sudhalter, American trumpeter and critic (born 1938).^[75]
  • Earl Palmer, American rock-and-roll and rhythm-and-blues drummer (born 1924).
• 22 – Connie Haines, American singer (born 1921).
• 30 – Henry Adler, American drummer and percussionist (born 1915).

October

• 4 – Alfred Gallodoro, American musician (born 1913).^[76]
• 11 – Neal Hefti, American trumpeter and composer (born 1922).^[77]
• 18 – Dave McKenna, American pianist (born 1930).^[78]
• 24 – Merl Saunders, American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards (born 1934).^[79]
• 26 – Marc Moulin, Belgian musician and journalist (born 1942).
• 27 – Ray Ellis, American record producer, arranger, and conductor (born 1923).

November

• 1 – Jimmy Carl Black, American drummer and singer of The Mothers of Invention (born 1938).^[80]
• 9 – Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer and civil rights activist (born 1932).^[81]
• 16 – Tony Reedus, American drummer (born 1959).
• 27 – Pekka Pohjola, Finnish multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer (born 1952).

December

• 3 – Derek Wadsworth, English trombonist, composer, and arranger (born 1939).
• 5 – Anca Parghel, Romanian jazz singer, composer, arranger, pianist, and choir conductor (born 1957).
• 7 – Jimmy Gourley, American guitarist (born 1926).
• 12 – Prince Lasha, American alto saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist (born 1929).
• 19
  • Kenny Cox, American pianist (born 1940).
  • Page Cavanaugh, American pianist, vocalist, and arranger (born 1922).
  • Verne Byers, American bandleader, bassist, and concert promoter (born 1918).
• 22 – Guy Warren, Ghanaian singer-songwriter (born 1923).
• 23 – Monty Waters, American saxophonist, flautist, and singer (born 1938).
• 25 – Eartha Kitt, American singer, actress, dancer, activist, and comedian (born 1927).
• 29 – Freddie Hubbard, American trumpeter (born 1938).^[82]

Unknown date

• Byrdie Green, American singer (born 1936).