1969 in jazz

The New England Conservatory becomes the first traditional music conservatory to offer a jazz studies course.^[1]

January

• 4 – Paul Chambers, American bassist (born 1935).
• 19 – Alcide Pavageau, American upright bassist (born 1888).

February

• 15 – Pee Wee Russell, American clarinetist (born 1906).
• 17 – Paul Barbarin, New Orleans drummer (born 1899).

March

• 25 – Billy Cotton, English bandleader (born 1899).

April

• 23 – Krzysztof Komeda, Polish film music composer and jazz pianist (haematoma) (born 1931).
• 24 – René Compère, Belgian trumpeter (born 1906).^[9]

May

• 19 – Coleman Hawkins, American tenor saxophonist (born 1904).

June

• 1 – Stan Brenders, Belgian jazz pianist and bandleader (born 1904).
• 2 – Albert Stinson, American upright bassist (born 1944).
• 10 – Wilbur Harden, American trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer (born 1924).
• 14
  • Roberto Firpo, Argentine tango pianist (born 1884).
  • Wynonie Harris, American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer (born 1915).

July

• 14 – Ernie Farrow, American pianist, bassist, and drummer (born 1928).

August

• 7 – Russ Morgan, American big band orchestra leader (born 1904).
• 14 – Tony Fruscella, American trumpeter (born 1927).

September

• 9 – Cedric Haywood, American pianist (born 1914).

October

• 10 – Manuel Manetta, American multi-instrumentalist (born 1889).
• 14 – Bill McKinney, American drummer (born 1895).
• 19 – Booker Pittman, American clarinetist (born 1909).
• 22 – Nate Kazebier, American trumpeter (born 1912).
• 29 – Pops Foster, American string bassist, who also played tuba and trumpet (born 1892).
• 30 – Tony Sbarbaro, American drummer (born 1897).
• 31 – Tony Pastor, Italian-American novelty singer and tenor saxophonist (born 1907).

November

• 2 – Slick Jones, American drummer (born 1907).
• 14 – Johnny Bayersdorffer, New Orleans cornetist and bandleader (born 1899).
• 18 – Ted Heath, English trombonist and big-band leader (born 1902).

December

• 9 – Bobby Henderson, American pianist and trumpeter (born 1920).
• 16 – Leo Mathisen, Danish pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader (born 1906)^[10]
• 26 – Jiří Šlitr, Czech songwriter, pianist, singer, actor, and painter (born 1924).

January

• 3 – James Carter, American saxophonist, flautist, and bass clarinetist.
• 24 – Duane Eubanks, American trumeter and flugelhornist.

February

• 1 – Joshua Redman, American saxophonist.
• 6 – Scott Amendola, American drummer.
• 7 – Chris Minh Doky, Danish bassist.
• 14 – Stefano di Battista, Italian saxophonist.
• 22 – Ståle Storløkken, Norwegian organist and keyboardist.

March

• 10 – Travis Shook, American pianist and songwriter.
• 13 – Stephen Scott, American pianist.
• 22 – Asaf Sirkis, Israeli drummer, composer, and educator.
• 25 – Marcin Jahr, Polish drummer.
• 29 – Jason Rebello, British pianist, songwriter, and record producer.

April

• 9 – Giovanni Allevi, Italian pianist and composer.
• 23 – Trude Eick, Norwegian hornist.
• 24 – Rebecca Martin, American singer and songwriter.
• 29 – Thomas Winther Andersen, Norwegian bassist.
• 30 – Michel Delville, Belgian guitarist, writer, and critic.

May

• 6 – Mathilde Grooss Viddal, Norwegian saxophonist.
• 12 – Erlend Skomsvoll, Norwegian pianist, composer, and orchestra leader, Come Shine.
• 22 – Carl Craig, American producer of techno music.
• 23 – Mindi Abair, American saxophonist, vocalist, and author.

June

• 2 – Kate Michaels, American singer.
• 11
  • Assif Tsahar, Israeli avant-garde tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist.
  • Michael Lington, American saxophonist.
• 22 – Régis Huby, French violinist, composer, and arranger.

July

• 4 – Carolyn Breuer, German saxophonist.
• 7 – Svein Olav Herstad, Norwegian pianist.
• 27 – Edward Simon, Venezuelan pianist and composer.

August

• 4 – Dylan Howe, English drummer, bandleader, session musician, and composer, The Blockheads.
• 16 – Kate Higgins, American voice actress, singer, and pianist.
• 25
  • Olga Konkova, Russian-Norwegian pianist and composer.
  • Øyvind Brække (August 25), Norwegian trombonist.
• 28 – Na Yoon-sun, South Korean singer.

September

• 14 – Denys Baptiste, British tenor and soprano saxophonist.
• 16
  • Ayako Shirasaki, Japanese pianist and composer.
  • Roy Paci, Italian trumpeter, singer, composer, and arranger.
• 19
  • Cuong Vu, Vietnam-born avant-garde fusion trumpeter.
  • Candy Dulfer, Dutch alto saxophonist and singer.
• 26 – Peter Asplund, Swedish trumpeter, singer, and composer.

October

• 1 – Ori Kaplan, Israeli avant-garde saxophonist.
• 4 – Mat Maneri, American composer, improviser, and jazz violin and viola player
• 7
  • Francesco Buzzurro, Italian guitarist and composer.
  • Per Mathisen, Norwegian bassist and composer.
• 8 – Gulleiv Wee, Norwegian bassist, The September When.
• 16 – Roy Hargrove, American trumpeter (died 2018).
• 27
  • Marek Napiórkowski, Polish guitarist and composer.
  • Stéphane Galland, Belgian drummer.
• 31 – Catherine Delaunay, French clarinetist and composer.

November

• 25 – Kim Ofstad, Norwegian drummer, D'Sound.
• 29 – Fredrik Ljungkvist, Swedish saxophonist and clarinetist, Atomic.

December

• 6 – Daniel Tinte, Argentinian pianist and composer.
• 19 – Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, Azerbaijani scat singer, pianist and composer.
• 31 – Joyce Cooling, American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter.

Unknown date

• Adrian Fry, British trombonist.
• Alon Yavnai, Israel-born pianist and composer.
• Guillermo Klein, Argentine pianist and composer.
• Lelo Nika, Serbian-born Romanian-Romani accordionist.
• Lucian Ban, Romanian jazz pianist.
• Per "Ruskträsk" Johansson, Swedish saxophonist, flautist, and clarinettist.
• Per «Texas» Johansson, Swedish saxophonist and clarinettist.
• Ricardo Martinez, Venezuelan bass guitarist.
• Thomas Fryland, Danish trumpeter.

• 1960s in jazz
• List of years in jazz
• 1969 in music