1976 in jazz
Wallace Davenport at the 1976 North Sea Jazz Festival
Decade	1970s in jazz
Music	1976 in music
Standards	List of post-1950 jazz standards
See also	1975 in jazz – 1977 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1976.

• 9 – The 3rd Vossajazz started in Voss, Norway (April 9 – 11).^[1]

• 19 – The 4th Nattjazz started in Bergen, Norway (May 19 – June 2).^[2]

• 4 – The 5th Moers Festival started in Moers, Germany (June 4 – 7).^[3]
• 25
  • The 23rd Newport Jazz Festival started in New York, New York (June 25 – July 5).^[4]
  • The 10th Montreux Jazz Festival started in Montreux, Switzerland (June 25 – July 11).^[5]

• 16 – The very first North Sea Jazz Festival started in The Hague, Netherlands (July 16 – 18).^[6]

• 17 – The 19th Monterey Jazz Festival started in Monterey, California (September 17 – 19).^[7]

January

• 14 – Juan d'Arienzo, Argentine tango violinist, band leader, and composer (born 1900).
• 24 – Gösta Theselius, Swedish arranger, composer, film scorer, pianist, and saxophonist (born 1922).
• 28 – Ray Nance, American trumpeter, violinist and singer (born 1913).

February

• 5 – Rudy Pompilli, American tenor saxophonist, Bill Haley and His Comets (born 1924).
• 6 – Vince Guaraldi, American pianist (born 1928).
• 12 – Skip Martin, American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and music arranger (born 1916).

March

• 14 – Junior Collins, American French horn player (born 1927).
• 18 – Jim McCartney, English trumpeter and pianist (born 1902).
• 19 – Paul Kossoff, English guitarist (cerebral and pulmonary oedema), Free (born 1950).
• 26 – Duster Bennett, British singer and guitarist (car accident), Fleetwood Mac (born 1946).

May

• 14 – Keith Relf, English singer (cardiac arrest due to electrocution), The Yardbirds (born 1940).
• 17 – Lars Gullin, Swedish saxophonist (born 1928).
• 29 – Willie Maiden, American saxophonist and arranger (born 1928).
• 30 – Rube Bloom, Jewish-American songwriter, pianist, arranger, band leader, singer, and author (born 1902).

April

• 7 – Jimmy Garrison, American upright bassist (born 1934).
• 12 – Ted Buckner, American saxophonist (born 1913).

June

• 7 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpeter, cornetist, and guitarist (born 1915).

July

• 10 – Mike Pratt, English actor, musician, songwriter, and screenwriter (born 1931).
• 12 – Buddy Featherstonhaugh, English saxophonist (born 1909).

September

• 8 – August Agbola O'Browne, Nigerian-Polish drummer (born 1895).

October

• 3
  • Victoria Spivey, American singer and songwriter (born 1906).
  • Herb Flemming, American trombonist and vocalist (born 1898).
• 11 – Connee Boswell, American singer (born 1907).

December

• 4 – Tommy Bolin, American guitarist (drug-induced suffocation), Deep Purple (born 1951).
• 28 – Freddie King, American guitarist and singer (born 1934).

January

• 10 – Freddy Wike, Norwegian drummer.
• 23 – Harmen Fraanje, Dutch pianist and composer.

February

• 11 – Gretchen Parlato, American singer.
• 20 – Ben Wendel, Canadian-American saxophonist, composer, bassoonist, and pianist, Kneebody.
• 22 – Julia Biel, British singer, songwriter, pianist, and multi-instrumentalist.^[8]
• 26 – Karl Strømme, Norwegian trumpeter.

March

• 1 – Andreas Mjøs, Norwegian vibraphonist, percussionist, guitarist, record producer, and composer, Jaga Jazzist.
• 10 – Ane Brun, singer and songwriter.
• 16 – Erlend Jentoft, Norwegian saxophonist and composer.
• 27 – Tia Fuller, American saxophonist, composer, and educator.

April

• 10 – Jan Werner Danielsen, Norwegian singer (died 2006).
• 17 – Kjetil Steensnæs, Norwegian guitarist.
• 30 – Radek Nowicki, Polish saxophonist.

May

• 10 – Torbjörn Zetterberg, Swedish upright bassist and composer.
• 20 – Ferenc Nemeth, Hungarian drummer and composer.

June

• 3
  • Hilde Louise Asbjørnsen, Norwegian singer, songwriter, cabaret artist.
  • Roger Arntzen, Norwegian upright bassist, In The Country.
• 6 – Emilie-Claire Barlow, Canadian singer and voice actress.
• 10 – Kinan Azmeh, Syrian clarinetist.
• 17 – Kjetil Møster, Norwegian reedist and composer, The Core and Ultralyd.
• 21 – Jarle Bernhoft, Norwegian singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and lyricist.

July

• 7
  • Erja Lyytinen, Finnish guitarist and singer-songwriter.
  • Orlando le Fleming, English upright bassist, composer and former cricketer, OWL Trio.

August

• 6 – Jonas Westergaard, Danish upright bassist.

September

• 4 – Alex Pangman, Canadian singer.
• 15 – Femi Temowo, Nigerian-born British jazz guitarist, musical director, producer and broadcaster.

October

• 1 – Ivar Grydeland, Norwegian guitarist and composer.
• 7 – Pekka Kuusisto, Finnish violinist.
• 19 – Jostein Gulbrandsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer.
• 28 – Emma Salokoski, Finnish singer, composer, and writer.

November

• 8 – Eric Harland, American drummer.

December

• 6 – Ole Børud, Norwegian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
• 7 – Kresten Osgood, Danish drummer.
• 17 – Andreas Schaerer, Swiss vocalist and composer.
• 30 – Miguel Zenón, Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, band leader, music producer, and educator.

Unknown date

• Daniel Fredriksson, Swedish drummer.
• Jakob Høyer, Danish drummer.
• Tamar Halperin, Israeli harpsichordist, pianist, and musicologist.
• Yasuyuki "Yaz" Takagi, Japanese saxophonist.

• 1970s in jazz
• List of years in jazz
• 1976 in music

• History Of Jazz Timeline: 1976 at All About Jazz

This list of songs or music-related items is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021)