2021 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of jazz in the year 2021.

2021 in jazz
Maria Schneider, whose album Data Lords was voted best of 2020 by critics in January 2021
Decade	2020s in jazz
Music	2021 in music
Standards	List of jazz standards
See also	2020 in jazz – 2022 in jazz

List of years in jazz
… 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 …
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Events

January

• January 14 – The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll rates Maria Schneider's Data Lords as the best album of 2020.^[1]

February

March

• March 14 - The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards occur.^[2] Jazz winners include:
  • Kurt Elling wins Best Jazz Vocal Album for his 2019 album Secrets are the Best Stories
  • Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade win Best Jazz Instrumental Album for their 2021 album Trilogy 2^[3]
  • The Maria Schneider Orchestra wins Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for its 2020 album Data Lords
  • Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra win Best Latin Jazz Album for their album Four Questions

April

May

June

July

• July 30 - Shabaka Hutchings from Sons Of Kemet founds a new UK Jazz record label, "Native Rebel Recordings"^[4]
  • July 30-August 1 – The Newport Jazz Festival takes place in the US state of Rhode Island. Performers include Gerald Clayton, Charles Lloyd, Mavis Staples, Trombone Shorty, Kamasi Washington and Brandee Younger.^[5]

August

September

October

• October 21 - Takuya Kuroda releases "Midnight Crisp" ^[6]

November

December

• December 4 - Promises (Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra album) is named album of the year 2021 by TIME magazine^[7]

Albums

Month	Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
March	26	Daring Mind	Jihye Lee Orchestra	Motema Music		^[8]
	26	Promises (Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra album)	Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra	Luaka Bop		^[9]
April	9	Uneasy (album)	Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey	ECM Records		^[10]^[11]
May	14	Black To The Future	Sons Of Kemet	Impulse! Records		^[12]^[13]
June	11	Squint	Julian Lage	Blue Note Records		^[14]
August	27	Sounds from the Ancestors	Kenny Garrett	Mack Avenue Records		^[15]
September	3	Kinds of Love	Renee Rosnes	Smoke Sessions Records		^[16]^[17]
	10	Side-Eye (V1. IV)	Pat Metheny	BMG Modern Recordings		^[18]
	14	The Cave Of Winds	Tony Malaby	Pyroclastic		^[19]
October	8	SuperBlue	Kurt Elling	Edition Records		^[20]
November	12	Crisis	Louis Hayes	Savant Records		^[21]
	19	A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday	Jack DeJohnette, Vijay Iyer, Wadada Leo Smith	TUM Records		^[22]
December	3	New Standards	Kenny G	Concord Records		^[23]

Deaths

• January 6 – Bobby Few, 85, American jazz pianist^[24]
• January 17 – Sammy Nestico, 96, American composer and arranger^[25]
• January 20 – Keith Nichols, 75, British instrumentalist and bandleader (COVID-19)^[26]
• January 23 – Jonas Gwangwa, 83, South African jazz trombonist^[27]
• February 9 – Chick Corea, 79, American pianist, composer and bandleader^[28]
• February 12 – Milford Graves, 79, American drummer and polymath^[29]
• March 2 – Chris Barber, 90, British bandleader and trombonist^[30]
• March 7 – Josky Kiambukuta, 72, Congolese singer (TPOK Jazz)^[31]
• March 8 – Julien-François Zbinden, 103, Swiss composer and jazz pianist^[32]
• March 10 – János Gonda, 89, Hungarian jazz pianist^[33]
• March 19 – Cristián Cuturrufo, 48, Chilean jazz trumpeter (COVID-19)^[34]
• March 28 – Malcolm Cecil, 84, British jazz bassist and record producer^[35]
• April 7 – Sonny Simmons, 87, American jazz saxophonist^[36]
• May 8 – Curtis Fuller, 88, American jazz trombonist^[37]
• May 15 – Mario Pavone, 80, American jazz bassist, composer and bandleader^[38]
• June 21 – Nobuo Hara, 94, Japanese saxophonist^[39]
• July 4 – Rick Laird, 80, Irish jazz bassist (Mahavishnu Orchestra)^[40]
• July 31 – Jerzy Matuszkiewicz, 93, Polish jazz musician and composer^[41]
• August 28 – Francesc Burrull, 86, Spanish musician and composer^[42]
• September 16 –George Mraz, 77, Czech-American jazz bassist^[43]
• September 28 - Dr. Lonnie Smith, 79, American jazz Hammond B3 organist
• October 18 – Franco Cerri, 95, Italian jazz guitarist.^[44]
• November 1 – Pat Martino, 77, American jazz guitarist.^[45]
• November 18 - Slide Hampton, 89, American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.
• December 8 - Barry Harris, 91, American jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator

See also

•  Jazz portal

• List of 2021 albums
• List of jazz festivals
• List of years in jazz
• 2020s in jazz
• 2021 in music

References

1. Francis Davis (14 January 2021). "The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll". NPR. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
2. 2020 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Winners & Nominations List: 2020 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Winners & Nominations List, accessdate: June 1, 2023
3. 2021 GRAMMY Awards Show: Chick Corea Wins Best Improvised Jazz Solo & Best Jazz Instrumental Album | 2021 GRAMMY Awards Show, accessdate: May 23, 2023
4. Music Week: Sons Of Kemet's Shabaka Hutchings on his new label | Labels | Music Week, accessdate: May 23, 2023
5. Paul Robicheau (August 3, 2021). "Concert Review: Newport Jazz Festival 2021 — A Musical Affirmation". The Arts Fuse. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
6. "Midnight Crisp, by Takuya Kuroda". Takuya Kuroda. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
7. Chow, Andrew R.; Lang, Cady (4 December 2021). . Time. Archived from the original on 2022-08-17. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
8. Morgan Enos (April 12, 2021). "Jihye Lee: Daring to Lead". Jazz Times. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
9. Shaffer, Claire (16 February 2021). "Pharoah Sanders Announces First Album in a Decade With Floating Points". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
10. Vijay Iyer, Vijay Iyer Trio - Uneasy Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-07-01
11. Jazz, All About (2021-04-29). "Vijay Iyer: Uneasy album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
12. Allnutt, Chris (28 April 2021). "Saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings: 'If I stop playing, I feel that physical yearning'". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
13. "Black to the Future by Sons of Kemet". Metacritic. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
14. Julian Lage - Squint Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-07-01
15. Sounds from the Ancestors - Kenny Garrett | Releases | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-07-01
16. Renee Rosnes - Kinds Of Love, 2021-09-03, retrieved 2023-07-01
17. Jazz, All About (2021-12-11). "Renee Rosnes: Kinds of Love album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
18. John Fordham (December 19, 2021). "The 10 best jazz albums of 2021". The Guardian. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
19. Mike Shanley (December 31, 2021). "Tony Malaby's Sabino: The Cave of Winds (Pyroclastic)". Jazz Times. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
20. SuperBlue - Kurt Elling | Releases | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-07-01
21. Crisis - Louis Hayes | Releases | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-07-01
22. A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday - Jack DeJohnette, Vijay Iyer, Wadada Leo Smith | Releases | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-07-01
23. "New Standards Out Now". kennyg.com. 3 December 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
24. Denis, Jacques (7 January 2021). "Mort de Bobby Few, pianiste sans chapelle". Libération (in French). Retrieved 8 January 2021.
25. admin (January 17, 2021). . Talk Zone. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
26. Bebco, Joe. "British Bandleader Keith Nichols has died. – The Syncopated Times". syncopatedtimes.com. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
27. "Legendary South African musician Jonas Gwangwa, 83, dies". News 24. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
28. Shteamer, Hank (February 11, 2021). "Chick Corea, Jazz Pianist Who Expanded the Possibilities of the Genre, Dead at 79". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
29. Bruce, Jasper (13 February 2021). "Influential jazz drummer Milford Graves has passed away at 79". NME. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
30. "Chris Barber, one of the greatest figures in the history of British jazz – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
31. "Veteran Congolese singer Josky Kiambukuta dies in Kinshasa". The East African. 8 March 2021.
32. "Le compositeur romand Julien-François Zbinden est mort à 103 ans". rts.ch (in French). 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
33. Pál Tamás (10 March 2021). "Meghalt Gonda János dzsesszzenész". Telex (in Hungarian). Retrieved 10 March 2021.
34. Warner, Amelia (19 March 2021). "Trumpeter Cristián Cuturrufo Dies, Victim Of COVID-19". Retrieved 20 March 2021.
35. "Malcolm Cecil, influential producer and Stevie Wonder collaborator, has died". NME. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
36. "Sonny Simmons 1933–2021". jazztimes.com. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
37. "Curtis Fuller, Leading Trombonist Of Jazz's Detroit Wave, Dies At 88". krvs.org. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
38. Hardman, Ray (16 May 2021). "Jazz Legend, Connecticut Native Mario Pavone Dies at 80". NPR. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
39. ジャズのサックス奏者・原信夫さん死去、９４歳…「シャープス＆フラッツ」リーダー (in Japanese)
40. Hopkins, Scott (5 July 2021). "Rick Laird, Bassist for Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dead at 80". Music Fest News. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
41. "Polish jazz pioneer passes away aged 93". Poland In. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
42. Jurado, Miquel (August 28, 2021). "Muere a los 86 años Francesc Burrull, el hombre que moldeó la 'Nova Cançó'". EL PAÍS (in Spanish).
43. "George Mraz,consummate jazz bassist, dies at 77". New York Times. 25 September 2021.
44. "È morto Franco Cerri, grande chitarrista del jazz italiano". La Repubblica (in Italian). 18 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
45. "Pat Martino, Jazz Guitarist Who Overcame Amnesia, Dies at 77". Ny Times. 1 November 2021. from the original on 2021-11-02.

External links