2020 in jazz

This is a timeline documenting events of jazz in the year 2020.

May

 * May 6 – Gregory Porter's brother Lloyd dies of COVID-19, two months after the singer is forced to interrupt his world tour by the pandemic.

June

 * June 26 - Immanuel Wilkins signs with Blue Note Records

August

 * August 6-8 – The Newport Jazz Festival is replaced by a programme of virtual events created by founder George Wein.

Deaths

 * January 10 – Wolfgang Dauner, 84, German jazz pianist
 * February 10 – Lyle Mays, 66, American jazz fusion keyboardist (Pat Metheny Group)
 * February 16 – Graeme Allwright, 93, New Zealand-French folk and jazz singer-songwriter
 * February 18 – Jon Christensen, 76m Norwegian jazz drummer
 * March 2 – Susan Weinert, 54, German jazz fusion guitarist (cancer)
 * March 6 – McCoy Tyner, 81, American jazz pianist
 * March 10 – Marcelo Peralta, 59, Argentine jazz saxophonist (COVID-19)
 * April 1 - Ellis Marsalis, Jr., 85, American jazz pianist and educator
 * April 15 - Lee Konitz, 92, American jazz saxophonist
 * October 17 – Toshinori Kondo, 71, Japanese jazz and jazz fusion trumpeter
 * October 31 – Marc Fosset, 71, French jazz guitarist
 * November 1 – Pedro Iturralde, 91, Spanish jazz saxophonist
 * November 7 – Cándido Camero, 99, Cuban jazz percussionist
 * November 11 – Andrew White, 78, American jazz saxophonist
 * November 26 – Allan Botschinsky, 80, Danish jazz trumpeter
 * December 30 – Eugene Wright, 97, American jazz bassist (Dave Brubeck Quartet)