" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett disclosed that he might never perform in public again because of lingering health issues. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four new NEA Jazz Masters and said farewell to nine others who were among the many industry-associated musicians and figures passing away during the year.

Pandemic blues became the new standard

Nothing in jazz seemed untouched by the novel coronavirus, aka COVID-19. In short, freelance musicians, live music venues of all sizes and locales, promoters and artist reps took a big hit economically because of the lockdowns.

Virtually all jazz festivals scheduled after mid-March were cancelled. That meant no New Orleans, no Newport, no Monterey, no Montreal, among many others. A few, including the Detroit Jazz Festival, livestreamed via the internet without in-person audiences. Spain's San Sebastian Jazz Festival, Norway's Oslo Jazz Festival and Austria's International Jazzfestival Saalfelden were scaled down with strictly controlled smaller audiences and precautions in place.

Musicians, many of whom live a gig-to-gig existence unless they had teaching income, felt the pinch most acutely. Most live concerts and club dates evaporated, with very few resuming when safe-distancing and other precautions could be taken. On the bright side, players embraced new technology, including Zoom and Facebook broadcasts, to perform -and sometimes record -from their living rooms as much to maintain some artful sanity as use virtual tip jars to collect contributions from supportive listeners. Driveways, front steps and nearby parks also became performance venues.

The National Endowment for the Arts, Jazz Foundation of America, the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Germany's Musikfonds, and the National Independent Venue Association created relief funds to assist arts organizations, presenters and musicians who lost work due to the pandemic. Arts philanthropists and record companies also pitched in. A few clubs helped keep musicians afloat by streaming remote performances to audiences sitting at home. Others, most notably Jazz Standard in New York and Twins Jazz in Washington DC, closed their doors permanently due to the pandemic's economic impact. (See the Jazz Venue Ups and Downs section below for more detail.)

More than 60 musicians and industry-associated figures succumbed to the virus, including, most notably,