See also: 1926 in music, other events of 1927, 1928 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• January 8 - Alban Berg's Lyric Suite is premiered in Vienna
• July 1 - Béla Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 1 is premired in Frankfurt, with the composer at the piano and Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting
• December 5 - Leos Janacek's Glagolitic Mass is premiered in Brno
• Blind Willie McTell's recording career begins
• The Soul Stirrers' recording career begins
• Big Bill Broonzy's recording career begins
• Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven record
• Carter Family recording career begins

Published popular music

• "Ain't She Sweet" w. Jack Yellen m. Milton Ager
• "Among My Souvenirs" w. Edgar Leslie m. Horatio Nicholls
• "At Sundown" w.m. Walter Donaldson
• "The Babbitt And The Bromide" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "The Best Things In Life Are Free" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Black And Tan Fantasy" m. Duke Ellington
• "Bless This House" w. Helen Taylor m. May Brahe
• "Blue Skies" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Broken Hearted" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Changes" w.m. Walter Donaldson
• "Chlo-e" w. Gus Kahn m. Neil Moret
• "Creole Love Call" w.m. Edward "Duke" Ellington
• "Dew-Dew-Dewy Day" w.m. Al Sherman, Charles Tobias & Howard Johnson
• "Diane" w.m. Ernie Rapee & Lew Pollack
• "Did You Mean It?" w. Abe Lyman & Sid Silvers m. Phil Baker
• "The Doll Dance" m. Nacio Herb Brown
• "Everywhere You Go" w.m. Larry Shay, Joe Goodwin & Mark Fisher
• "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" w. Willie Raskin & Billy Rose m. Fred Fisher
• "Four Or Five Times" w.m. Byron Gay
• "Funny Face" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Girl Of My Dreams" w.m. Sunny Clapp
• "Good News" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Hallelujah!" w. Leo Robin & Clifford Grey m. Vincent Youmans
• "High Hat" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Hoosier Sweetheart" w.m. Billy Baskette, Paul Ash & Joe Goodwin
• "I Don't Know How" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "I Feel At Home With You" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "I Left My Sugar Standing In The Rain" w. Irving Kahal m. Sammy Fain
• "I Scream You Scream" w.m. Robert King, Howard Johnson & Billy Moll
• "I Still Suits Me" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "I'll Take Care Of Your Cares" w. Mort Dixon m. James V. Monaco
• "I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now" w. Benny Davis m. Jesse Greer
• "I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover" w. Mort Dixon m. Harry Woods
• "I'm Proud Of A Baby Like You" Schoenberg, Stevens, Helmick
• "In A Mist" m. Bix Beiderbecke
• "It All Belongs To Me" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Just Like A Butterfly" w. Mort Dixon m. Harry Woods
• "Let A Smile Be Your Umbrella" w. Irving Kahal & Francis Wheeler m. Sammy Fain
• "Let's Kiss And Make Up" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Lindbergh" w.m. Al Sherman & Howard Johnson
• "The Lonesome Road" w. Gene Austin m. Nathaniel Shilkret
• "Lucky Lindy" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Abel Baer
• "Mary, (What Are You Waiting For)" w.m. Walter Donaldson
• "Maybe It's Me" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Me And My Shadow" w.m. Dave Dreyer, Billy Rose & Al Jolson
• "Miss Annabelle Lee" w.m. Lew Pollack, Sidney Clare & Harry Richman
• "Mississippi Mud" w. James Cavanaugh m. Harry Barris
• "My Blue Heaven" w. George Whiting m. Walter Donaldson
• "My Heart Stood Still" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "My One And Only" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Ol' Man River" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "Plenty Of Sunshine" w. B. G. De Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Preludes" by George Gershwin
• "Rain" w.m. Eugene Ford, Carey Morgan & Arthur Swanstrom
• "Ramona" w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Mabel Wayne
• "A Room With A View" w.m. Noel Coward
• "Russian Lullaby" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "'S Wonderful" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Shaking The Blues Away" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Side By Side" w.m. Harry Woods
• "The Song Is Ended" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Strike Up The Band" w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin
• "Struttin' With Some Barbecue" w.m. Louis Armstrong & Lillian Hardin Armstrong
• "Thou Swell" w. Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "The Varsity Drag" w. B. G. de Sylva & Lew Brown m. Ray Henderson
• "Washboard Blues" m. Hoagy Carmichael & Irving Mills
• "What Does It Matter?" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Where's That Rainbow?" Lorenz Hart m. Richard Rodgers
• "Why Do I Love You?" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "You Remind Me Of A Naughty Springtime Cuckoo" w.m. Leslie Sarony
• "Your Land And My Land" w. Dorothy Donnelly m. Sigmund Romberg
• "You're Always In My Arms" w. Joseph McCarthy m. Harry Tierney

Classical music

• Reinhold Glière - The Red Poppy (ballet)
• Bohuslav Martinu - La Revue de Cuisine
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 2 B major, Op. 14
• Igor Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex
• Edgar Varèse - Arcana (1925-27)
• Anton Webern - String Trio, opus 20

Opera

• Franz Lehár - Der Zarewitsch

Musical theater

• The Desert Song (Sigmund Romberg) - London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on April 7 and ran for 432 performances
• Funny Face Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 22 and ran for 250 performances
• Good News! Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre on September 6 and ran for 557 performances
• Hit The Deck (Vincent Youmans and Clifford Grey) - Broadway production opened at the Belasco Theatre on April 25 and ran for 532 performances; London production opened at the Hippodrome on November 3 and ran for 277 performances
• The Merry Malones Broadway production opened at the Erlanger Theatre on September 26 and ran for 216 performances
• My Maryland Broadway production opened at the Jolson Theatre on September 12 and ran for 312 performances
• Oh, Kay! London production opened at His Majesty's Theatre on September 21 and ran for 214 performances
• One Dam Thing After Another London production opened at the Pavilion Theatre on May 20
• Peggy-Ann London production opened at Daly's Theatre on July 27 and ran for 130 performances
• Rio Rita Broadway production opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre on February 2 and ran for 494 performances
• Show Boat (Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) - Broadway production opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 27 and ran for 572 performances
• The Vagabond King London production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on April 19 and ran for 480 performances
• Yes, Yes, Yvette Broadway production opened at the Sam H. Harris Theatre on October 3 and ran for 40 performances

Musical film

• The Jazz Singer released October 6, starring Al Jolson

Popular Hit Recordings

• "Sweetheart Of Sigma Chi" by Ted Lewis & His Band
• "My Blue Heaven" by Gene Austin
• "Mine, All Mine" by the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks
• "Mary (What Are You Waiting For?)" by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
• "Changes" by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
• "Blue Skys/Falling In Love With You" by Jesse Crawford
• "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Sophie Tucker with Miff Mole & His Little Molers
• "Shaking The Blues Away" by Ruth Etting
• "Varsity Drag" by Ruth Etting
• "It All Belongs To Me" by Ruth Etting
• "In A Little Spanish Town" by Carson Robison
• "My Pretty Girl" by Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra
• "Back Water Blues" by Bessie Smith
• "I'm Coming, Virginia" by Bix Beiderbecke
• "Lucky Lindy" by Nat Shilkret
• "I'm Gona Meet My Sweetie Now" by Jane Green
• "Black and Tan Fantasy" by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

Other important recordings

• "Singin' The Blues" by Frankie Trumbauer's Orch., with Bix & Lang
• "Potato Head Blues" by Louis Armstrong
• "Stardust" by Hoagy Carmichael
• "Honky Tonk Train Blues" recorded Meade Lux Lewis (not released until 1930)

Births

• January 10 - Johnnie Ray, US singer, pianist and songwriter
• January 17 - Eartha Kitt
• February 2 - Stan Getz
• February 10 - Leontyne Price
• February 17 - Friedrich Cerha, composer
• February 27 - Guy Mitchell
• March 3 - Junior Parker
• March 18 - John Kander, composer of musicals
• March 27 - Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist
• April 30 - Johnny Horton
• June 23 - Bob Fosse, choreographer
• July 16 - Mindy Carson, US singer
• October 7 - Al Martino
• October 25 - Barbara Cook, US singer and actress
• November 8 - Patti Page

Deaths

• May 3 - Ernest R. Ball, US composer
• June 5 - Paul Lacombe, composer
• October 1 - Wilhelm Harteveld, composer