As usual, the meta-list is alphabetized by writers' names. When a list was collaborative or presented as a staff-written project, the name of the publication or media outlet is used instead, with the writers' names noted if available. This post will be updated multiple times over the next several weeks as more lists become available.
Here's what's out there so far:
* ABC Jazz - Our Top 20 From 2020
* Karl Ackermann, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* David Adler, JazzArtistryNow.com - Solo Album Roundup 2020
* AlbumOfTheYear.org - The Best Jazz Albums of 2020; The Best Jazz Albums of 2020 by User Score
* AllAboutJazz.com - Most Read Album Reviews: 2020; Most Read Articles: 2020; Popular Tracks: 2020
* Andy Allen, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* AllMusic.com - 2020 Year in Review: Favorite Jazz Albums
* Gwen Ansell, SigswenJazz - 2020: the South African jazz year that was
* ArtsFuse.org (Steve Elman, Steve Feeney, Allen Michie, Michael Ulman & Bill Marx) - Significant Jazz Experiences, 2020
* AquariumDrunkard.com (Charley Ruddell, Kaley Evans, Tyler Wilcox, Jennifer Kelly, Tyler Hale, Mark Neeley, Chad DePasquale, Josh Neas, Jay Steele, Jason P. Woodbury & Justin Gage) - 2020 Year In Review
* C. Michael Bailey, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Andrew Batson, AndrewBatson.com - The best music I heard in 2020
* BBC Music Magazine (Garry Booth, Barry Witherden & Roger Thomas) - The best jazz recordings released in 2020 so far
* David Beckett, RockAndRollGlobe.com - The Best In Jazz 2020
* Don Berryman, JazzPolice.com - 20 from 2020 – the New Music that Helped
* Julian Booker, WXPN - 20 Records for 2020
* Mike Borella, Avant Music News - Best of 2020: Part I – Honorable Mentions; Part II – Albums of the Year
* Guillaume Bourgault-Côté, Le Devoir - 2020 en cinq temps de jazz
* Jack Bowers, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* BR Klassik (Beate Sampson, Roland Spiegel & Ulrich Habersetzer) - Die Schönheit und die Fülle des Jazz
* Bill Brownlee, Plastic Sax - Favorite Albums of 2020; The Top Jazz-Related Stories and Trends of 2020
* Christopher Burnett, JazzArtistryNow.com - JAN Best of Jazz 2020; WINTER JAN
* CapitalBop.com (Sadie Gronigan, Majeedah Johnson, Abram Mamet, Giovanni Russonello, Jamie Sandel & Jackson Sinnenberg) - Best D.C. Jazz Albums of 2020
* Paul Cash, HiFiTrends.com - The Best Jazz Albums Of 2020
* James Catchpole, TokyoJazzSite.com - Best of 2020's New Releases; 2020 Favorite Albums
* John Chacona, AllAboutJazz.com - Favorite Releases Of 2020
* Doug Collette, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* Amanda Cook, ICareIfYouListen.com - Editor’s Picks: 2020 Contemporary Classical Albums
* Chris Cooke, "Last Call" (KIOS) - Last Call Reviews: Best of 2020
* Mark Corroto, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* Curt Davenport, Curt's Jazz Cafe - My Favorite Jazz Albums of the Year: 30 for ’20 (Part 1 of 3); Part 2 of 3; Part 3 of 3; My Favorite Jazz Albums of 2020 – The Complete List
* Len Davis, "Bitches Brew" (3MDR.com) - A Selection Of The Best New Releases From 2020
* Anthony Dean-Harris, PostGenre.org - Best “Jazz” Albums of 2020
* R.J. DeLuke, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Arnaldo DeSouteiro, Jazz Station - The 42nd Annual Jazz Station Awards / The Best Jazz of 2020
* Deutschlandfunk (Odilo Clausnitzer, Michael Engelbrecht, & Karsten Mützelfeldt) - Die besten Platten 2020
* John Diliberto, "Echoes" (PRX) - The Best of Echoes 2020
* Troy Dostert, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* DownBeat - 2020: The Year’s Top-Rated Albums; 2020: Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny, Lakecia Benjamin And The Year’s Best-Read Stories
* Tony Dudley-Evans, TDE Promotions - Review Of The Year
* ElIntruso.com - 13ª ENCUESTA ANUAL A PERIODISTAS INTERNACIONALES (13th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CRITICS POLL)
* John Fordham, The Guardian - The 10 best jazz albums of 2020
* Martin Fowler, MartinFowler.com - My favorite musical discoveries of 2020
* Ken Franckling, Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes - My take on the best jazz recordings of 2020
* Preston Frazier, Something Else! - Best of 2020 Jazz
* Free Jazz Collective - 2020 Top 10s
* Phil Freeman, Stereogum.com - The 10 Best Jazz Albums Of 2020
* Jon Garelick, Boston Globe - Top 10 jazz albums of 2020
* Mike Gates, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* Nenad Georgievski, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Henri Gibier, Les Echos - Le top 10 des albums de jazz 2020
* Andrew Gilbert, San Jose Mercury News - Bay Area jazz awards 2020: These musicians made great music in a bad year
* John Gilbreath, KEXP - 2020 Top Ten List Spotlight
* Robert Ginsburg, "Shades of Jazz" (KUAF) - A Sample of Some of the Best Jazz of 2020
* Ted Gioia, TedGioia.com - The One Hundred Best Albums of 2020
* T.J. Gorton, BeatCaffeine - Favorite Albums of 2020
* George Grella, Red Hook Star-Review - Jazz: The Year Comes to an End
* Matt Groom, PrestoMusic.com - Jazz Recordings of the Year 2020
* David Hajdu, The Nation - The Best Albums of 2020
* Doug Hall, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* Andy Hazell, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* Chris Heim, KMUW - Night Train's Best Releases Of 2020
* Skip Heller, AllAboutJazz.com - 2020 and Me
* Peter J. Hoetjes, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Brian Homer, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* Tom Hull, TomHull.com - The Best Jazz Albums of 2020
* Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen - Best Canadian Jazz of 2020: While pandemic killed festivals and gigs, musicians released stellar albums
* J Hunter, Nippertown.com - BEST OF 2020: Best in Jazz2K, Part Une – 2020 Jazz2K Awards, and (The Rest of) The Best of 2020!; Best in Jazz2K, Part Deux – Top 10 Jazz2K Discs of 2020
* Jim Hynes, MakingAScene.org/GlideMagazine.com - Top Release Picks of 2020; The Glide 20 In Jazz: The Year’s 20 Best Jazz Albums
* Dave Jackson, AJazzNoise.com - 2020 picks
* Jazz Desk - Best albums 2020
* JAZZ.FM91 (Heather Bambrick, Brad Barker, David Baskin, Jaymz Bee, John Devenish, Adam Feibel, Laura Fernandez, Raina Hersh, Danny Marks & Glen Woodcock) - Year in review: 25 of the best jazz albums of 2020
* Jazz Journalists Association - 2020 "Best Of" Jazz From JJA Members
* Jazz Times - Year in Review: The 10 Best Historical Recordings of 2020; The Top 40 New Jazz Releases of 2020 (40-31); The Top 40 New Jazz Releases of 2020 (30-21); The Top 40 New Jazz Releases of 2020 (20-11); The Top 40 New Jazz Releases of 2020 (10-1); Year in Review 2020: Individual Ballots
* Jazzcast.ca - TOP 20 OF 2020
* Jazzfuel.com - Favourite Jazz Albums of 2020
* JazzWeek - Year End Jazz Chart: 2020
* Jazzwise - Top 20 Jazz Albums of 2020; Top 20 Jazz Reissues and Archive Albums of 2020
* Mihir Kumar Jha, CoreAlpha.org - Best Jazz Albums of 2020
* David Brent Johnson, "Night Lights" (WFIU) - Best Historical Releases 2020
* Mark Jones, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* Jim Josselyn, CultureSonar.com - The 10 Best Jazz Albums You May Have Missed
* Mike Jurkovic, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* Richard B. Kamins, Step Tempest - Twenty Recordings for 2020 (Part 1); Twenty Recordings for 2020 (Pt. 2)
* Fred Kaplan, Slate - The Best Jazz Albums of 2020
* KCBX (Neal Losey, Marisa Waddell, Janelle Younger, Fred Friedman, Monica Fiscalini, Tom DeSanto, Laura Joines, Rick Mathews, Craig Russell, David Figueroa, Jim Dee, Andy Zink, Sal España, Leslie Thompson & Felicia Lewis) - Best of 2020: KCBX DJs pick their top albums and songs
* KMHD (Isabel Zacharias, Matt Fleeger, Derek Smith & Cedric Hudson) - KMHD’s best jazz albums of 2020
* Andrian Kreye, Süddeutsche Zeitung - Die wichtigsten Jazz-Alben des Jahres
* Rokas Kucinskas, Stingray.com - TOP 10 | Best Jazz Albums of 2020; 5 Jazz Albums You Missed in 2020
* Friedrich Kunzmann, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* Will Layman, PopMatters.com - The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2020; 20 Jazz Albums You Might Have Missed in 2020
* John Lewis, The Guardian - The 10 best contemporary music albums of 2020
* Jim Macnie, Lament For A Straight Line - This Year, Those Albums – 2020 Jazz You Should Hear
* Tim Mah, "Jazz Today" (CJSW) - Recommended Canadian Jazz Albums of 2020
* Peter Margasak, The Quietus - Complete Communion: The Best Of 2020 In Jazz
* Marlbank.net - Top UK jazz albums 2020: full list; Top live gigs in 2020: complete
* Chris May, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Marc Masters, Bandcamp.com - The Best Experimental Albums of 2020
* Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* "The Colin McEnroe Show," WNPR - The Best Jazz Of 2020
* Bill Meyer, MagnetMagazine.com - Best Of 2020: Jazz/Improv
* Matt Micucci, Jazziz - Crate Digging: Best Albums of 2020 (Part 1)
* Jay N. Miller, Patriot Ledger - Music Scene: Local artists among best jazz recordings of 2020
* Andrew Mills, Capital Public Radio - Ear To Ear: Best Jazz Albums Of 2020
* Ralph A. Miriello, Notes on Jazz - Best of Jazz 2020
* Imran Mirza, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* Tseliso Monaheng, Pan-African-Music.com - The best 10 South African jazz albums of the year 2020
* New York City Jazz Record - Best of 2020
* NPR - Best Music Of 2020; The Best Music Of 2020: NPR Staff Picks; The Best Reissues And Box Sets Of 2020; The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll; The 2020 Jazz Critics Poll: It's After The End Of The World
* Offbeat - The 50 Best Albums Of 2020 In Louisiana Music
* Anthony Osborne, AJazzNoise.com - 2020 picks
* Ian Patterson, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases Of 2020
* John Pietaro, AllAboutJazz.com - "Test" Of 2020
* Peter Quinn, TheArtsDesk.com - Albums of the Year 2020: Maria Schneider Orchestra - Data Lords
* Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune - Best jazz recordings of 2020: Maria Schneider, Matthew Shipp and Sharel Cassity
* Benoit Richard, BenzineMag.net - 12 albums pour le premier semestre 2020; 10 albums pour l’année 2020
* Dave Rogers, "Professor Bebop" (WTJU) - Best of 2020
* Roots Music Report - Top Jazz Album Chart for the Year of 2020
* Giovanni Russonello, New York Times - Best Jazz Albums of 2020; The Year in Improvised Music: ‘Everything’s Changing. So the Music Should.’
* Tim Rutherford-Johnson, The Rambler - Rambler releases of 2020
* Andrew Sacher, Brooklyn Vegan - 15 Great Jazz Albums of 2020
* Simon Sargsyan, JazzBluesNews.com - The Best 22 Jazz Albums of 2020: Videos, CD covers, Reviews
* Bret Saunders, Denver Post - Our picks for the top 10 *finest* jazz albums of 2020
* Michael Schell, Sequenza 21 - Music from behind a mask: Schell’s picks for 2020
* Colette Schryburt, "Coco Jazz" (CKVL) - BEST JAZZ ALBUMS OF 2020
* Chris Searle, Morning Star - Best of 2020: Jazz albums
* Gene Seymour, GeneSeymour.com - Top Ten Jazz Albums for 2020
* John Schaefer, "New Sounds" & "Soundcheck" (WQXR) - The Top 10 of 2020
* John Sharpe, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Hank Shteamer, Rolling Stone - 6 Paths Through Jazz in 2020
* Jae Sinnett, WHRV - Top Jazz Picks 2020
* Steve Smith, NightAfterNight.substack.com - 2020, on the record
* SonicBoomRecords.com - Top-Sellers 2020: Jazz!
* Squidco.com - 2020 Top 40 Albums By Customer Orders
* Mark Sullivan, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Dave Sumner, Bandcamp.com - The Best Jazz Albums of 2020
* SWR2 (Julia Neupert & Günther Huesmann) - Die besten Aufnahmen des Jazz 2020
* Derek Taylor, DustedMagazine.tumblr.com - 2020: We’re Still Here
* Textura.org - TOP 20 JAZZ
* Geno Thackara, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* TheWickedSound.com - THE BEST LIVE ALBUMS 2020; THE BEST COMPILATIONS 2020; THE BEST REISSUES 2020
* Tracce di Jazz - RISULTATI JazzTrackers’ Choice Poll
* Treblezine.com - The 20 Best Jazz Albums of 2020
* TSF Jazz - Le meilleur du jazz en 2020 (classement personnel)
* François Valenti, CaisseDeson.com - Les meilleurs albums de 2020 – Jazz / World / Instrumental et autres
* George Varga, San Diego Union Tribune - 2020 year in review: Best albums came as COVID-19 made music more essential than ever in a year we’d all like to forget
* Clemens Verhooven, VerhoovensJazz.com - 2020 Jazz Highlights
* Ian Ward, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* Kevin Ward, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* WDCB (Dona Mullen, Jay Greene, Dan Bindert, Paul Abella, Matthew Hermes, Leslie Keros & Bruce Oscar) - Best of 2020 Part 1; Best of 2020 Part 2
* Marlon West, GoodBlackNews.org - “Stand With Each Other” – Great Jazz Releases from 2020
* La-Faithia White, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* Richard Williams, TheBlueMoment.com - 2020: the best bits
* Steve Williams, UKVibe.org - Best of 2020
* Jerome Wilson, AllAboutJazz.com - Best Releases of 2020
* WorldMusicCentral.org - Best World Music Albums of 2020
* WRTI - The Best Jazz Albums of 2020
* Scott Yanow, LAJazzScene.buzz - The Top Jazz Recordings of 2020
* Tony Zambito, JazzBuffalo.com - 25 Favorite Jazz Albums Of 2020
* Stevie Zoom, KEXP - 2020 Top Ten Albums
Active scouting for more lists will continue for at least a couple more weeks, but your input is welcome, too. If you've seen any other 2020 year-end jazz lists available online that aren't mentioned here, please use the comments (or send StLJN an email) to share the information. And if you like, please feel free also to use the comments to discuss your own favorite jazz releases, shows and moments of 2020.
Finally, if you'd like to re-visit StLJN's past "best of" list round-ups, here are the meta-lists for 2007 (parts 1 and 2), 2008 (parts 1 and 2), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Updated 12/27/20 with six more lists. Updated 12/28/20 with two more lists. Updated 12/29/20 with six more lists. Updated 12/30/20 with 15 more lists. Updated 12/31/20 with three more lists. Updated 1/1/21 with three more lists. Updated 1/2/21 with two more lists. Updated 1/2/21 with two more lists. Updated 1/3/21 with one more list. Updated 1/4/21 with five more lists. Updated 1/5/21 with two more lists. Updated 1/6/21 with four more lists. Updated 1/7/21 with one more list. Updated 1/8/21 with five more lists. Updated 1/9/21 with one more list. Updated 1/10/21 with three more lists. Updated 1/11/21 with two more lists. Updated 1/12/21 with two more lists. Updated 1/13/21 with 16 more lists. Updated 1/14/21 with one more list. Updated 1/15/21 with one more list. Updated 1/18/21 with three more lists. Updated 1/21/21 with one more list.
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