Timeline

Year	Developments in Jazz	Historical Events
1980	Saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., records his Grammy Award winning album, Winelight, that includes the hit song Just the Two of Us. Trumpeter Miles Davis comes out of retirement and records the funk and rock-influenced The Man with the Horn. Eighteen-year-old trumpeter Wynton Marsalis records at Montreux with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Pianist Bill Evans dies in New York.	Former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in New York City. 10,000 Cuban refugees come to the U.S. Mt. St. Helen's volcano erupts. The Iranian hostage crisis begins.
1981	Pianist Mary Lou Williams dies. Miles Davis makes his first live performance since retirement at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Saxophonist David Sanborn records the album Voyeur, featuring the Grammy-winning song All I Need is You, composed by bassist Marcus Miller. Saxophonist Branford and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis joins Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.	The U.S. completes its first successful space shuttle mission. Race riots occur in Brixton, London. Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt is assassinated. Poland declares martial law to quash trade union "solidarity." Former actor Ronald Reagan becomes president. Assassination attempts are made on President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The Iranian hostage crises ends. The AIDS epidemic begins.
1982	Pianist Thelonious Monk dies. Saxophonist Sonny Stitt dies. Bassist Jaco Pastorius leaves Weather Report. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and vocalist Bobby McFerrin are featured at the Kool Jazz Festival.	Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. British forces reclaim the Falklands forcing the surrender of Argentine troops. Filmmaker Richard Attenborough receives eight Academy Awards for the film Ghandi. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg receives three Academy Awards for E.T. The Message is one of the earliest rap hits.
1983	Pianist Keith Jarrett make his first recordings of standards with drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Gary Peacock. Pianist Eubie Blake dies. Pianist Earl Hines dies. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis makes history by winning a jazz and classical Grammy Award in the same year. Keyboardist Herbie Hancock's synthesized dance hit, Rockit, reaches number one in the pop charts. Pianist Scott Joplin appears on a U.S. postage stamp.	Writer Tennessee Williams dies. The U.S. invades Granada. The first compact discs are marketed. The Cabbage Patch dolls become a commercial success. The School Prayer Amendment is rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. Harold Washington becomes the first Black mayor of Chicago. Vanessa Williams becomes the first Black Miss America.
1984	Bandleader and keyboardist Sun Ra performs in Athens and is voted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame. Pianist Count Basie dies in Hollywood. Drummer Shelly Manne dies. Miles Davis records You're Under Arrest before leaving Columbia Records and signing a seven figure deal with Warner Bros.	The first black franchise is granted in South Africa. Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi is assassinated. Ronald Reagan is elected to his second term as President. Apple Computers launches the first Macintosh.
1985	Drummer Kenny Clarke dies. Miles Davis records Aura in Denmark. Trumpeter Thad Jones takes over the Count Basie band. Blue Note is relaunched with a concert at Town Hall with drummer Art Blakey, bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and others. Drummer Philly Joe Jones dies. Trumpeter Cootie Williams dies. Pianist Chick Corea captures a new audience with his Elektrik Band with electric bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl. Branford Marsalis tours with pop artist Sting.	Singer and promoter Bob Geldof's charity concert "Live Aid" reaches a global audience. The sunken cruise ship The Titanic is located. A new, sweeter Coca-Cola is introduced but Coca-Cola goes back to the original recipe due to poor sales.
1986	Wynton Marsalis records Standard Time, establishing his reputation as a traditionalist. Jazz-pop musician Kenny G has a hit with Songbird. Jazz education and outreach organization Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz established in memory of the jazz legend. The film ‘Round Midnight is released, starring saxophonist Dexter Gordon as a character loosely based on pianist Bud Powell; Herbie Hancock wins Academy Award for original score. Jazz legend Benny Goodman dies.	The U.S. space shuttle Challenger explodes on launch. The U.S. bombs Libya from a British air base. Filmmaker Oliver Stone's Platoon receives an Academy Award. The Iran-Contra Scandal becomes public. The U.S. Supreme Court upholds affirmative-action hiring quotas.
1987	Electric bassist Jaco Pastorius dies, beat up by a bouncer in a South Florida bar. Free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman reunites his original quartet. Saxophonist Michael Brecker releases his first solo album. A big band is formed to celebrate trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's seventieth birthday. Major record labels begin massive reissues of classic jazz recordings on CD, reflecting the renewed interest in bebop and hard bop. Classical Jazz, Lincoln Center's first concert series devoted exclusively to jazz, begins in Alice Tully Hall.	Artist Andy Warhol dies. The stock market crashes. Ex-Nazi deputy Rudolf Hess commits suicide in a Berlin prison. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign the first treaty to reduce nuclear arms. Pop vocalist Whitney Houston becomes the first female artist to have an album go straight to number one on the Billboard charts.
1988	Arranger Gil Evans dies in Mexico. Trumpeter Chet Baker dies in mysterious circumstances in Amsterdam. Pianist Keith Jarrett is nominated for a Grammy for his recording of music by composer J.S. Bach. Actor Clint Eastwood directs Bird, a biographical dramatization of the life of Charlie Parker.	A jumbo jet explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland. American TV evangelist Jim Bakker is forced to resign after admitting to an affair. The antidepressant drug Prozac is launched.
1989	Trumpeter Roy Eldridge dies. Trumpeter Woody Shaw dies. Nineteen-year-old trumpeter Roy Hargrove records Diamond in the Rough. John Zorn records the post-modern album Naked City. Trumpeter and producer Quincy Jones records Back on the Block with a wide variety of genres from bop to rap. Miles Davis records Amandla.	Artist Salvador Dali dies. The Berlin Wall is opened. Protesters are massacred at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Writer Salman Rushdie is sentenced to death in Iran for writing his novel The Satanic Verses. The U.S. invades Panama. The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurs. George H. Bush becomes president.