This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1963.

• 15 – The 5th Annual Grammy Awards were held in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.^[1]
  • Ella Fitzgerald awarded Best Solo Vocal Performance, Female for Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson^[2]
  • Stan Getz awarded Best Jazz Performance – Soloist Or Small Group (Instrumental) for "Desafinado"
  • Stan Kenton awarded Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental) for Adventures In Jazz
  • Vince Guaraldi awarded Best Original Jazz Composition for the composition "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio

• 4 – The 10th Newport Jazz Festival started in Newport, Rhode Island (July 4 – 7).^[3]

January

• 13 – Sonny Clark, American pianist (born 1931).
• 16 – Ike Quebec, American tenor saxophonist (born 1918).

February

• 6 – Specs Wright, American drummer (born 1927).
• 14 – Castor McCord, American saxophonist (born 1907).
• 16 – Jimmy Reynolds, American pianist (born 1904).
• 20 – Addison Farmer, American bassist (born 1928).
• 23 – June Clark, American trumpeter and cornetist (born 1900).
• 28 – Bobby Jaspar, Belgian saxophonist, flautist, and composer (born 1926).

March

• 10 – Irving Aaronson, American pianist and big band leader (born 1895).
• 17 – Lizzie Miles, Creole blues singer (born 1895).

April

• 3 – Gene Sedric, American clarinetist and tenor saxophonist (born 1907).
• 9 – Eddie Edwards, American trombonist (born 1891).
• 11 – Arvid Gram Paulsen, Norwegian saxophonist and trumpeter (born 1922).
• 12 – Herbie Nichols, American pianist and composer (born 1919).

May

• 24 – Elmore James, American guitarist (born 1918).

June

• 3 – Skinnay Ennis, American bandleader and singer (born 1907).
• 12 – Bob Scobey, American trumpeter (born 1916).

July

• 25 – John Adriano Acea, American jazz pianist (born 1917).
• 31 – Curtis Counce, American upright bassist (born 1926).

August

• 23 – Glen Gray, American saxophonist, Casa Loma Orchestra (born 1906).

September

• 20 – Pete Brown, American alto saxophonist and bandleader (born 1906).
• Sam Allen, American pianist (born 1909).

November

• 4 – Joe Gordon, American trumpeter (born 1928).
• 29 – Ernesto Lecuona, Cuban composer, pianist and bandleader (born 1895).

December

• 14
  • Dinah Washington, American singer (born 1924).
  • Lodewijk Parisius "Kid Dynamite", Surinamese-Dutch tenor saxophonist (born 1911).^[4][5]
• 22 – Roy Palmer, American trombonist (born 1892).

• Unknown date
• Jon Ballantyne, Canadian pianist and composer.
• Naftule Brandwein, Jewish clarinetist and influential klezmer musician (born 1884).

January

• 7 – Christine Tobin, Irish vocalist and composer.
• 17 – Cyrus Chestnut, American pianist, composer and producer.

February

• 2
  • Eva Cassidy, American singer and guitarist (died 1996).
  • Vigleik Storaas, Norwegian pianist.
• 5 – Jacqui Dankworth, British singer.

March

• 5 – Ralph Alessi, American trumpeters and composer.^[6]
• 18 – Yoko Kanno, Japanese composer, arranger, keyboarder, pianist, and accordionist.
• 23 – Nelson Faria, Brazilian guitarist.
• 24
  • Dave Douglas, American trumpeter and composer.
  • Eric Vloeimans, Dutch trumpeter.
• 30 – Ximo Tebar, Spanish guitarist and composer.

April

• 1 – Antoine Roney, American saxophonist.
• 4 – Benny Green, American pianist.
• 7 – Fredrik Lundin, Danish saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.
• 8 – Tine Asmundsen, Norwegian upright bassist.
• 17 – Peter Havlicek, Austrian kontragitarrist (viennese harp-guitar), guitarist, composer, and vocalist.
• 24 – Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Cuban drummer and percussionist.

May

• 2 – Eric Person, American saxophonist.
• 4 – Gerald Cleaver, American drummer.
• 9 – Ron Miles, American trumpeter, cornetist, and composer.
• 4 – Jack Cooper, American composer, arranger, multireedist, and music educator.
• 16 – Nikki Iles, English composer, pianist and accordion player.
• 27 – Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cuban composer and pianist.
• 28 – Marc Antoine, French guitarist.

June

• 9 – Gilad Atzmon, British saxophonist and writer.
• 20 – Jeff Beal, American trumpeter, flugelhornist, keyboarder, and composer.
• 28 – Tierney Sutton, American singer.

July

• 5 – Russ Lorenson, American singer and actor.
• 23 – Renato Borghetti, Brazilian folk musician and composer.

August

• 7 – Marcus Roberts, American pianist.
• 10 – Christine Ott, French composer, pianist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist.^[7]
• 12
  • Karen Briggs, African-American violinist.
  • Nigel Mooney, Irish singer, guitarist, and songwriter.
• 23 – Stephanie Biddle, Canadian musician.
• 31 – Baard Slagsvold, Norwegian singer and multi-instrumentalist.

September

• 2 – Sherrie Maricle, American drummer.
• 6 – Thulla Christina Wamberg, Danish singer.

October

• 3 – Niels Lan Doky, Danish pianist and record producer.

November

• 1 – Martin Pizzarelli, American upright bassist.
• 2 – Jens Johansson, Swedish pianist and keyboarder.
• 8 – Russell Malone, American guitarist.
• 16 – Steve Argüelles, English drummer.
• 20 – Don Braden, American tenor saxophonist.
• 24
  • Scott Colley, American upright bassist and composer.
  • Yoron Israel, American drummer.
• 25
  • Anders Widmark, Swedish pianist and composer.
  • Holly Cole, Canadian singer.

December

• 10 – Ole Amund Gjersvik, Norwegian upright bassist.
• 14 – Dalia Faitelson, Israeli composer, vocalist, guitarist, and DJ DaFa.
• 29 – Dave McKean, English photographer, graphic designer, filmmaker, and pianist.

Unknown date

• Bill Wells, Scottish bassist, pianist, guitarist, and composer.
• Don Paterson, Scottish poet, writer, and musician.
• Gianni Lenoci, Italian pianist and composer.
• Torcuato Mariano, Argentinian-born American guitarist.

• 1960s in jazz
• List of years in jazz
• 1963 in music

• The New Real Book, Volume I. Sher Music. 1988. ISBN 0-9614701-4-3.
• The New Real Book, Volume II. Sher Music. 1991. ISBN 0-9614701-7-8.
• The New Real Book, Volume III. Sher Music. 1995. ISBN 1-883217-30-X.
• The Real Book, Volume I (6th ed.). Hal Leonard. 2004. ISBN 0-634-06038-4.
• The Real Book, Volume II (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4234-2452-9.
• The Real Book, Volume III (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard. 2006. ISBN 0-634-06136-4.
• The Real Jazz Book. Warner Bros. ISBN 978-91-85041-36-7.
• The Real Vocal Book, Volume I. Hal Leonard. 2006. ISBN 0-634-06080-5.

• History Of Jazz Timeline: 1963 at All About Jazz