Timeline

Year	Developments in Jazz	Historical Events
1940	Composer and bandleader Duke Ellington hires saxophonist Ben Webster and records Ko-Ko, Concerto for Cootie, and Cottontail. Trumpeter Cootie Williams leaves Ellington's band and is replaced by trumpeter and violinist Ray Nance. Vibraphonist Lionel Hampton's big band records Flying Home. Nat King Cole's trio records the timely piece, Gone with the Draft. Minton's Playhouse in New York becomes a hot spot for jazz, where musicians such as pianist Thelonious Monk, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and drummer Kenny Clarke are featured. The American Society of Composer, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) issues a broadcast ban of ASCAP works, resulting in the growth of rival organization Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI).	The Soviet Union attacks Finland. Germany invades Norway and Denmark. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britain. Holland and Belgium fall to Germany. Italy declares war on Britain and France. Germany occupies Paris.
1941	Duke Ellington's band records composer Billy Strayhorn's Take the 'A' Train, which becomes the band's signature tune. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge joins drummer Gene Krupa's orchestra as featured soloist. Clarinetist Sidney Bechet plays five different instruments on The Sheik of Araby and Blues of Bechet, using some of the earliest overdubbing techniques. Saxophonist Charlie Parker makes his first recordings with Jay McShann’s band and begins participating in the famous Minton's Playhouse jam sessions where bebop is created. ASCAP's broadcasting boycott ends. Jelly Roll Morton dies. Cootie Williams forms his own orchestra, which eventually employs musicians such as Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. Dizzy Gillespie is fired by Cab Calloway after an altercation involving a knife.	Germany invades Yugoslavia, Russia, and sends troops to North Africa. The British army goes to Libya and Ethiopia. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The U.S. and Britain declare war on Japan. The U.S. declares war on Germany and Italy.
1942	Pianist Fats Waller appears at Carnegie Hall. Composer Leonard Bernstein performs in Boston as a jazz pianist. The American Federation of Musicians bans its members from participating in studio recordings for record companies that fail to pay royalties to performers. Trombonist Glenn Miller dissolves his band and enlists in the Air Force where he forms a new band. Eighteen-year-old singer Sarah Vaughan wins a talent competition at Harlem's Apollo Theater. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie join pianist Earl Hines band. Eddie Condon's integrated band appears on CBS television. Billboard magazine publishes the first black record chart under the title "Harlem Hit Parade."	The U.S. bombs Germany. Germany attacks Stalingrad, U.S.S.R. Japan wages campaigns in East Indies, Malaya, and Burma.
1943	Duke Ellington's Orchestra performs Black, Brown, and Beige and New World A’Comin' at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Art Tatum establishes a trio with guitarist Tiny Grimes and bassist Slam Stewart. Glenn Miller publishes a text-book for arranging music.	Britain captures Tripoli. Germany surrenders at Stalingrad and Tunisia. Italian leader Benito Mussolini resigns after the Allied invasion of Sicily. The Allies land on mainland Italy. Italy turns against Germany. The jitterbug dance becomes popular in the U.S.
1944	Producer Norman Granz initiates the series, "Jazz at the Philharmonic" in Los Angeles. Bud Powell urges bandleader Cootie Williams to record Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight. This is the first known recording of this song, which has since become the most-recorded jazz standard composed by any jazz musician. Thelonious Monk makes his first recordings with the Coleman Hawkins Quartet. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie leave Billy Eckstine's band. Trumpeter Miles Davis arrives in New York to study at Juilliard School of Music but promptly withdraws. He complains of the classical / European focus of the school and decides he can learn more from Parker, Gillespie and the NY jazz scene. Lester Young is drafted into the army, is voted most popular saxophonist by Down Beat magazine, and appears in the film Jammin' the Blues. The American Federation of Musicians lifts the recording ban. Glenn Miller disappears in an Air Force flight from London to Paris.	The siege of Leningrad ends. The Allies land on Normandy beaches on what becomes "D-Day." An unsuccessful assassination attempt is made on Adolph Hitler. Paris and Brussels are liberated. The U.S. Army crosses the German border. The United Negro College Fund is established.
1945	Dizzy Gillespie records Be-Bop. Charlie Parker hires Miles Davis to replace Dizzy Gillespie at the Three Deuces on 52nd Street, leading Davis to quit school. Charlie Parker records Now's The Time, his first session as a leader, with Miles Davis on trumpet and Max Roach on drums. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie play in Los Angeles, helping to establish an interest in bebop. Pianist Mary Lou Williams gives the first performance of her Zodiac Suite at New York's Town Hall.	Warsaw and Budapest fall to the U.S.S.R. Cologne falls to the Allies. President Franklin Roosevelt dies. Italian leader Benito Mussolini is executed; his corpse later hung upside down for public viewing. Adolph Hitler commits suicide. Berlin is captured by Russian troops. German forces surrender. The U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrenders. Composer Anton Webern is accidentally shot to death by U.S. military policeman in Austria. Composer Bela Bartok dies. The United Nations is founded. Ebony Magazine is founded. Harry S. Truman becomes president.
1946	Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie perform at "Jazz at the Philharmonic" in Los Angeles. Charlie Parker performs with Miles Davis in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Miles Davis records Ornithology and Night in Tunisia with Charlie Parker, and then rejoins Billy Eckstine's band. Guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli are reunited after their wartime separation. Dizzy Gillespie forms a big band that includes pianist John Lewis and drummer Kenny Clarke. Billie Holiday performs at Town Hall in New York.	Hungary becomes a republic. President Juan Peron assumes power in Argentina. Italy becomes a republic. Mao Tse-Tung revives the Chinese Civil War. The bikini is introduced.
1947	Louis Armstrong appears at Carnegie Hall with Billie Holiday. Miles Davis continues to perform with Charlie Parker at the Three Deuces and makes a series of recordings with Parker. Miles Davis makes his first recordings as a leader, featuring Charlie Parker, pianist John Lewis, and drummer Max Roach. Charlie Parker records numerous tracks for the Dial and Savoy labels. Billie Holiday is convicted for possession of heroin. Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie appear at a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall, where Gillespie performs Cubana Be/Cubana Bop. Dizzy Gillespie records Manteca, bringing attention to Afro-Cuban jazz. Thelonious Monk makes his first recordings as a bandleader for Blue Note. Several of his original compositions are featured, including In Walked Bud, Monk's Mood and Well You Needn't. Drummer Art Blakey forms a group that is later to become the Jazz Messengers. The Atlantic label is founded. Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday appear in the film New Orleans. Chano Pozo introduces Afro-Cuban jazz in New York.	Crisis occurs in Palestine. India and Pakistan gain independence from Britain. Communists assume power in Hungary. Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American in major league baseball. The sound barrier is broken in the U.S. The Central Intelligence Agency is created by President Harry Truman. The House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigating communism in Hollywood, leading to the blacklisting of ten filmmakers. The first microwave oven is introduced.
1948	Dizzy Gillespie brings bebop to Europe, performing at the Nice Jazz Festival in France along with Louis Armstrong and others. Gillespie's Cuban drummer, Chano Pozo, is shot dead in Harlem. Billie Holiday performs twice at Carnegie Hall, both times breaking box-office records. Columbia Records introduces the first long-playing vinyl discs. Miles Davis forms a nonet which appears for two weeks at the Royal Roost as a replacement for pianist Count Basie's band. Saxophonist Ben Webster rejoins Duke Ellington's band.	Mahatma Ghandi is assassinated in New Delhi. Communists gain control of Czechoslovakia. Britain abandons Palestine. Israel is founded. The U.S.S.R. isolates Berlin. Writer George Orwell's 1984 is published. South Africa establishes the apartheid system. In the U.S., a judge rules that it is illegal for homeowners to refuse to sell to black buyers.
1949	Miles Davis and composer/arranger Gil Evans record Birth of the Cool. The first Festival International de Jazz is held in Paris, featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sidney Bechet, Miles Davis, Kenny Clark, and others. Pianist Lennie Tristano records early examples of free jazz improvisation. Norman Granz pairs Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson with bassist Ray Brown at a "Jazz at the Philharmonic" concert at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Dave Brubeck records in San Francisco with his piano trio. The club Birdland, named after Charlie "Bird" Parker, opens on Broadway. Charlie Parker appears at Carnegie Hall; the same year he also records Charlie Parker with Strings. Stan Kenton performs progressive jazz at Carnegie Hall with a 25-piece orchestra.	The Republic of Erie is established. The West German Federal Republic is established. The first passenger jet aircraft makes a flight. The People's Republic of China is founded by Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. The East German Democratic Republic is established. Civil War ends in Greece. Vietnam achieves independence from France.