# 1963 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1963.

## Events
### May

* 15 – The 5th Annual Grammy Awards were held in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.
** Ella Fitzgerald awarded Best Solo Vocal Performance, Female for Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson
** Stan Getz awarded Best Jazz Performance – Soloist Or Small Group (Instrumental) for "Desafinado"
** Stan Kenton awarded Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental) for Adventures In Jazz
** Vince Guaraldi awarded Best Original Jazz Composition for the composition "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

### July

* 4 – The 10th Newport Jazz Festival started in Newport, Rhode Island (July 4 – 7).

## Album releases

* Chris Barber: "Chris Barber at the BBC" with Joe Harriott and Ottilie Patterson
* Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers
** Caravan
** Buhaina's Delight
** Ugetsu
* Kenny Burrell: Midnight Blue
* Betty Carter: 'Round Midnight
* Miles Davis: Seven Steps to Heaven
* Eric Dolphy: Iron Man (recorded, released 1968)
* Duke Ellington
** Money Jungle with Charles Mingus and Max Roach
** My People
** The Symphonic Ellington
* Bill Evans: Conversations with Myself
* Joe Harriott: Movement
* Joe Henderson: Page One
* Sheila Jordan: Portrait of Sheila
* Stan Kenton: Artistry in Bossa Nova
* Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
* Hank Mobley: No Room for Squares
* Thelonious Monk: Criss Cross
* Thelonious Monk: Monk's Dream
* Prince Lasha Quintet Featuring Sonny Simmons: The Cry!
* Sun Ra: Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy (recorded, released 1967)
* Sonny Rollins: Our Man in Jazz
* Nina Simone: Nina Simone Sings Ellington
* Stanley Turrentine: Soul Shoutin'
* Kai Winding: Solo: Kai Winding

## Deaths
### January

* 13 – Sonny Clark, American pianist (born 1931).
* 16 – Ike Quebec, American tenor saxophonist (born 1918).

### February

* 6 – Specs Wright, American drummer (born 1927).
* 14 – Castor McCord, American saxophonist (born 1907).
* 16 – Jimmy Reynolds, American pianist (born 1904).
* 20 – Addison Farmer, American bassist (born 1928).
* 23 – June Clark, American trumpeter and cornetist (born 1900).
* 28 – Bobby Jaspar, Belgian saxophonist, flautist, and composer (born 1926).

### March

* 10 – Irving Aaronson, American pianist and big band leader (born 1895).
* 17 – Lizzie Miles, Creole blues singer (born 1895).

### April

* 3 – Gene Sedric, American clarinetist and tenor saxophonist (born 1907).
* 9 – Eddie Edwards, American trombonist (born 1891).
* 11 – Arvid Gram Paulsen, Norwegian saxophonist and trumpeter (born 1922).
* 12 – Herbie Nichols, American pianist and composer (born 1919).

### May

* 24 – Elmore James, American guitarist (born 1918).

### June

* 3 – Skinnay Ennis, American bandleader and singer (born 1907).
* 12 – Bob Scobey, American trumpeter (born 1916).

### July

* 25 – John Adriano Acea, American jazz pianist (born 1917).
* 31 – Curtis Counce, American upright bassist (born 1926).

### August

* 23 – Glen Gray, American saxophonist, Casa Loma Orchestra (born 1906).

### September

* 20 – Pete Brown, American alto saxophonist and bandleader (born 1906).
* Sam Allen, American pianist (born 1909).

### November

* 4 – Joe Gordon, American trumpeter (born 1928).
* 29 – Ernesto Lecuona, Cuban composer, pianist and bandleader (born 1895).

### December

* 14
** Dinah Washington, American singer (born 1924).
** Lodewijk Parisius "Kid Dynamite", Surinamese-Dutch tenor saxophonist (born 1911).
* 22 – Roy Palmer, American trombonist (born 1892).
* Unknown date
* Jon Ballantyne, Canadian pianist and composer.
* Naftule Brandwein, Jewish clarinetist and influential klezmer musician (born 1884).

## Births
### January

* 7 – Christine Tobin, Irish vocalist and composer.
* 17 – Cyrus Chestnut, American pianist, composer and producer.

### February

* 2
** Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (died 1996).
** Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist.
* 5 – Jacqui Dankworth, British singer.

### March

* 5 – Ralph Alessi, American trumpeters and composer.
* 18 – Yoko Kanno, Japanese composer, arranger, keyboarder, pianist, and accordionist.
* 23 – Nelson Faria, Brazilian guitarist.
* 24
** Dave Douglas, American trumpeter and composer.
** Eric Vloeimans, Dutch trumpeter.
* 30 – Ximo Tebar, Spanish guitarist and composer.

### April

* 1 – Antoine Roney, American saxophonist.
* 4 – Benny Green, American pianist.
* 7 – Fredrik Lundin, Danish saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.
* 8 – Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian upright bassist.
* 17 – Peter Havlicek, Austrian kontragitarrist (viennese harp-guitar), guitarist, composer, and vocalist.
* 24 – Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Cuban drummer and percussionist.

### May

* 2 – Eric Person, American saxophonist.
* 4 – Gerald Cleaver, American drummer.
* 9 – Ron Miles, American trumpeter, cornetist, and composer.
* 4 – Jack Cooper, American composer, arranger, multireedist, and music educator.
* 16 – Nikki Iles, English composer, pianist and accordion player.
* 27 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban composer and pianist.
* 28 – Marc Antoine, French guitarist.

### June

* 9 – Gilad Atzmon, British saxophonist and writer.
* 20 – Jeff Beal, American trumpeter, flugelhornist, keyboarder, and composer.
* 28 – Tierney Sutton, American singer.

### July

* 5 – Russ Lorenson, American singer and actor.
* 23 – Renato Borghetti, Brazilian folk musician and composer.

### August

* 7 – Marcus Roberts, American pianist.
* 10 – Christine Ott, French composer, pianist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist.
* 12
** Karen Briggs, African-American violinist.
** Nigel Mooney, Irish singer, guitarist, and songwriter.
* 23 – Stephanie Biddle, Canadian musician.
* 31 – Baard Slagsvold, Norwegian singer and multi-instrumentalist.

### September

* 2 – Sherrie Maricle, American drummer.
* 6 – Thulla Christina Wamberg, Danish singer.

### October

* 3 – Niels Lan Doky, Danish pianist and record producer.

### November

* 1 – Martin Pizzarelli, American upright bassist.
* 2 – Jens Johansson, Swedish pianist and keyboarder.
* 8 – Russell Malone, American guitarist.
* 16 – Steve Argüelles, English drummer.
* 20 – Don Braden, American tenor saxophonist.
* 24
** Scott Colley, American upright bassist and composer.
** Yoron Israel, American drummer.
* 25
** Anders Widmark, Swedish pianist and composer.
** Holly Cole, Canadian singer.

### December

* 10 – Ole Amund Gjersvik, Norwegian upright bassist.
* 14 – Dalia Faitelson, Israeli composer, vocalist, guitarist, and DJ DaFa.
* 29 – Dave McKean, English photographer, graphic designer, filmmaker, and pianist.

### Unknown date

* Bill Wells, Scottish bassist, pianist, guitarist, and composer.
* Don Paterson, Scottish poet, writer, and musician.
* Gianni Lenoci, Italian pianist and composer.
* Torcuato Mariano, Argentinian-born American guitarist.