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

Quick Facts Decade, Music ...

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

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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).

• List of 2008 albums
• List of years in jazz
• 2000s in jazz
• 2008 in music