Timeline

Year	Developments in Jazz	Historical Events
2020	The ninth annual International Jazz Day is celebrated worldwide, with the Herbie Hancock Institute's annual All-Star Global Jazz Concert presented virtually (for the first time) due to COVID-19 pandemic. Jazz clubs across the globe close (many to never reopen) and jazz festivals worldwide are cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Jazz musicians resort to performing live-stream concerts and teaching online due to COVID-19 pandemic. Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington named Jazz Artist of the Year by DownBeat magazine, becoming the first female instrumentalist to be bestowed this honor.	COVID-19 pandemic results in over two million deaths worldwide as well as economic recession. George Floyd, an African American, is killed by a Minneapolis police officer in the United States, sparking global violent protests against racism. COVID-19 pandemic shuts down Summer Olympics and other sporting events. Antarctica sees its highest temperature on record. Joe Biden is elected President of the United States, while Kamala Harris becomes first female and person of color Vice President of the United States. Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle step down from their positions as Duke and Duchess of Sussex, leaving Britain to settle in Southern California.
2021	Legendary jazz pianist, jazz fusion innovator and 27-time GRAMMY Award winner Chick Corea dies of cancer. Chick Corea, Robert Glasper, Maria Schneider, Arturo O'Farrill and Jacob Collier are among the awardees in the jazz category at the 63rd annual GRAMMY Awards. People around the world celebrate the 10th Anniversary of International Jazz Day, with programs in more than 190 countries and a hybrid Global Concert featuring performances in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Moscow and Cape Town, South Africa. Jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter premieres his new operatic work Iphigenia, starring esperanza spalding in the title role.	On January 6, rioters storm the grounds of the United States Capitol, disrupting certification of the 2020 presidential election. Myanmar's military seizes control of the government and places democratically-elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi under arrest. Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani meet in Najaf, Iraq, the first-ever such meeting between a sitting pope and a grand ayatollah. In a widely-condemned incident, Ryanair Flight 4978 is interdicted by Belarusian authorities while en route to Vilnius, Lithuania, leading to the arrest of opposition journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend. The Taliban retake control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, ending the decades-long War in Afghanistan. The global death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 5 million.
2022	Ron Carter, Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette, Eliane Elias, Christian McBride, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Esperanza Spalding and Chucho Valdes are among the awardees in the jazz category at the 64th annual GRAMMY Awards. International Jazz Day is celebrated around the world on April 30th with over a billion participants, culminating with an all-star global concert at the United Nations produced by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz in conjunction with UNESCO. Geri Allen is inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame. Documentaries on the lives of Louis Armstrong and Ron Carter are released.	World population reaches eight billion. Removal of most COVID-19 restrictions and the reopening of international borders in vast majority of countries. Russia invades Ukraine, leading to the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II. First successful heart transplant from a pig to a human patient occurs in Baltimore, Maryland. Global food prices increase to their highest level since the UN's Food Price Index began in 1990. Billionaire Elon Musk acquires he social media network Twitter (which he later rebrands as X). The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration reveals its first images of Sagittarius A, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
2023	Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Samara Joy, Linda May Han Oh, Arturo O'Farrill, Nicholas Payton, Wayne Shorter, Snarky Puppy, and Matthew Stevens are among the awardees in the jazz category at the 65th annual Grammy Awards. World renowned saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter dies at the age of 89. Three-episode documentary miniseries on the life of Wayne Shorter over multiple decades is released. Piano legend Ahmad Jamal dies at the age of 92. Alice Coltrane, Mario Bauza and Red Norvo enter the DownBeat Hall of Fame. Twelfth annual International Jazz Day celebration on April 30th culminates with All-Star Global Concert, featuring performances from Beijing, Beirut, Johannesburg, New York, Rio de Janeiro, and Vienna. Pianist Jahari Stampley, age 24, of Chicago wins Herbie Hancock Institute International Jazz Competition in New York.	Decline in severity of the COVID-19 pandemic; World Health Organization ends its global health emergency status. Hamas attacks Israel, leading to a major war in the Middle East. Advancements in AI include machine learning and natural language processing, capable of creating realistic and coherent text, images, and music. Chines spy balloon traverses the United States. Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer is launched by the European Space Agency to search for life in the Jovian system, with an expected arrival date of 2031. SAG-AFTRA strike against film and TV studios in protest of low compensation, ownership of work, and generative AI. World's oceans reach record high temperature of 20.96 degrees Celsius (69.73 degrees Fahrenheit); July is hottest month on record for globally average surface air temperatures. Hamas launches incursion into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and taking 240 hostages, prompting a military response from the Israel Defense Forces. Archaeologists in Zambia find the world's oldest wooden structure, dating back 476,000 years.
2024	The Count Basie Orchestra, Billy Childs, Samara Joy, Laufey, Meshell Ndegeocello, Luis Perdomo, Miguel Zenon, and Nicole Zuraitis are among the awardees in the jazz categories at the 66th annual Grammy Awards. Thirteenth annual International Jazz Day celebration on April 30th culminates with All-Star Global Concert in Morocco. Saxophone great Joe Lovano enters the DownBeat Hall of Fame.	Continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel/Hamas war, the Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war, and the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. Sweden officially joins NATO, becoming its 32nd member after Finland a year earlier. The Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, is passed by the European Union. The long-period comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS), described as the "comet of the century," makes its closest approach to Earth. SpaceX achieves the first successful return and capture of a Super Heavy booster from Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever to fly. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is launched to investigate Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter. Republican Donald Trump wins the 2024 United States presidential election, becoming the first U.S. president to be elected to a nonconsecutive second term since Grover Cleveland in 1892. Researchers using the Very Large Telescope announce the first-ever "close-up" image of a star outside the Milky Way Galaxy, WOH G64.