The DownBeat 2020 Gift Guide

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A four-disc Charles Mingus set is a highlight of our seasonal shopping guide for music fanatics.

(Photo: Joseph L. Johnson)

If you’re shopping for gifts this holiday season, DownBeat has got you covered with our 2020 Holiday Gift Guide.

Check out features on a new live set of Charles Mingus performances, a handful of Charlie Parker gifts to mark his centennial, vibraphonist Warren Wolf’s first holiday album, books by critic Kevin Whitehead on jazz cinema and academic Tammy L. Kernodle on the life of Mary Lou Williams. Plus, our Yuletide Music Roundup highlights the best holiday albums of 2020.

Don’t forget, DownBeat makes the perfect gift for anyone who loves jazz. We’ve got great deals on subscriptions, whether you want to read DownBeat in print, online or on your tablet. And don’t miss out on our weekly newsletter.

To read the Holiday Gift Guide from our December issue, click here.

To read the Yuletide Music Roundup for 2020, click here.

To order a subscription to DownBeat, or to buy a DownBeat book, hat or T-shirt, click here. DB

These stories originally were published in the December 2020 issue of DownBeat.



  • Cassandra_Wilson_%40_2026_Mark_Sheldon-2_copy_2.jpg

    Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.

  • Pritesh_Walia_courtesy_Pritesh_Walia.jpg

    “The love from the jazz and music community restored my faith in humanity,” Walia wrote in an online post upon his release from detention at an ICE facility.

  • Poncho.jpeg

    ​Percussionist Poncho Sanchez was among the artists scheduled to perform at the now-canceled inaugural LA Jazz Festival.

  • GB_Headshot_copy.jpg

    Bertoncini was a specialist and advocate for the nylon-string acoustic guitar, turning down high-profile opportunities that were unsuited to the sound and techniques that he used with that instrument.

  • DB26_Jessica_Molasky_John_Pizzarelli_Tony_Bennett_Courtesy_John_Pizzarelli_copy.jpeg

    Jessica Molaskey and John Pizzarelli with Tony Bennett at their wedding reception in 1998.