This is a timeline documenting events of Jazz in the year 1949.
In 1949 Bebop dominates the scene, but Dixieland is still being played. Miles Davis makes the first recordings with other artists of what will be known as Cool Jazz. The first LPs are issued, as are the first 45s.
My Foolish Heart was a film starring Dana Andrews and Susan Hayward that was panned by the critics, but the title song "My Foolish Heart", written by singer Billie Holiday and sung by Martha Mears, was a hit and became a jazz standard.
Sarah Vaughan made her first appearance with a symphony orchestra in a benefit for the Philadelphia Orchestra entitled "100 Men and a Girl."
Capitol Records and Decca Records introduced their first LPs (33-1/3 rpm). In response, RCA Records released the first 45 rpm recordings, while Universal Audio was granted a patent for "Double Feature", a method for putting two songs on each side of a 10-inch record.
Deaths
January
14 – George Baquet, American clarinetist (born 1881).
February
14 – Seymour Simons, American pianist, composer, orchestra leader, and radio producer (born 1896).
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