The 2022 celebration of International Jazz Day featured an All-Star Global Concert at the United Nations General Assembly Hall, with Herbie Hancock, Gregory Porter, Shemekia Copeland, Marcus Miller, Mark Whitfield, Hiromi, Linda Oh, David Sanborn, Randy Brecker, Ravi Coltrane, Zakir Hussain, Brian Blade and others.

"[10] After his designation as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue on July 22, 2011,[11] Herbie Hancock announced his intention to create an International Day celebrating the diplomatic role of jazz.

Event producers organized simultaneous performances by student groups in Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Cape Town which were streamed live and broadcast by CNN and CBS This Morning.

[17] The sunrise event occurred on the opening weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which led some observers—including Mayor Landrieu and host Harry Shearer—to remark that numerous attendees had simply not gone to bed the night before.

[20] A number of the 2013 education activities were concentrated in the cosmopolitan district of Beyoğlu in venues including the Akbank Sanat arts center, the Alt jazz club, and Galatasaray High School, where saxophonist Wayne Shorter gave a master class for students and accepted UNESCO's Cultural Diversity Medal from Director-General Bokova.

Participants included Joss Stone, Rubén Blades, Terence Blanchard, George Duke, Al Jarreau, Branford Marsalis, John McLaughlin, Dianne Reeves, Lee Ritenour and Hüsnü şenlendirici.

The evening's hosts included UNESCO Director-General Bokova, Herbie Hancock, Turkish comedian Cem Yılmaz, and community activist Martin Luther King III, who delivered remarks commemorating the 50thanniversary of the March on Washington.

Participants included Ray Lema, Manu Dibango, Gregory Porter, Kelly Lee Evans, Leila Martial, Tony Tixier, Etienne Mbappé, Rémi Panossian, and Lou Tavano.

[29] Performers included trombonist Steve Turre on conch shells with master taiko drummer Shuichi Hidano; Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter with a rendition of Michiel Borstlap's Memory of Enchantment[30] and Chris Thomas King, John Scofield, and Joe Louis Walker on Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' on My Mind".

Daniel Humair, Gregory Privat, Sonny Troupé, Olivier Bogé, Lisa Cat-Berro, and Tricia Evy, with Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Marcus Miller and steel pannist Sean Thomas.

John Beasley was musical director with performances by Mino Cinelu, Avishai Cohen, Kellylee Evans, Hugh Masekela, Marcus Miller, Guillaume Perret, and Lee Ritenour on Mandela's anti-apartheid protest song "Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)";[40] Femi Kuti with an ensemble rendition of his Afrobeat hit "No Place for My Dream";[41] and Igor Butman, James Genus, Avishai Cohen and Herbie Hancock on the latter's composition "The Sorcerer".

[46] Over 50 cities throughout Italy participated by holding their own events on or around April 30, including a performance by guitarist John Scofield at the Museo del Violino in Cremona and a concert featuring drummer Antonio Sanchez at Fano's Teatro della Fortuna.

[47] The 2016 International Jazz Day host celebration took place in Washington, D.C. Daytime programs on April 30 spanning the eight wards were largely free and open to the public, including performances, film screenings, jam sessions, discussions, and workshops with local and visiting musicians.

Other highlights included a panel on "Jazz, Human Rights, & Cultural Diplomacy" at the National Museum of American History with Hancock, Director-General Bokova, French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira, and Hugh Masekela;[50] a performance by Dianne Reeves and Cyrus Chestnut at local homeless services center Thrive DC;[50] and a discussion on women in jazz with Reeves, Bridgewater, and Terri Lyne Carrington at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

[55] Notable among the performances was a medley paying tribute to singer-songwriter Prince, who had died the previous week, featuring vocalist Aretha Franklin, Herbie Hancock, Terri Lyne Carrington, guitarist Lionel Loueke, pianist Robert Glasper, bassist Ben Williams, and rapper Rapsody.

[56] Making their first appearance at an International Jazz Day event were pianists Joey Alexander, Chick Corea, Jamie Cullum, Diana Krall, and Chucho Valdés, drummers Brian Blade and Kendrick Scott, saxophonists Paquito D'Rivera, David Sánchez, and Bobby Watson, guitarists Buddy Guy and Pat Metheny, trumpeter James Morrison, Trombone Shorty, and Sting.

There was a panel discussion on jazz and cinema at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, which included UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, and Chucho Valdés.

[62] Saxophonist Melissa Aldana, pianist Tarek Yamani, and trumpeter Takuya Kuroda conducted master classes for students at the Superior and National Schools of Art.

Graduate fellows of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, a master's program at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, participated in workshops and jam sessions with musicians at Havana conservatories.

The culminating All-Star Global Concert included performances by Till Brönner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gilad Hekselman, Robert Glasper, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Danilo Pérez, Dianne Reeves and Lee Ritenour, among others.

Artists from 13 countries participated, including Herbie Hancock, James Morrison, William Barton, Brian Blade, Igor Butman, Theo Croker, Joey DeFrancesco, Eli Degibri, Kurt Elling, James Genus, Aditya Kalyanpur, Ledisi, Jane Monheit, Chico Pinheiro, Tineke Postma, Eric Reed, Antonio Sánchez, Somi, Ben Williams, Lizz Wright and Tarek Yamani.

In parallel, as part of the worldwide commemorations, International Jazz Day organizers invited musicians from around the world to create their own at-home performances, livestreamed concerts, and other tributes in honor of the 2020 edition.

A series of workshops and panels were streamed throughout the day on April 30 in the lead-up to the All-Star Concert, including master classes with Lionel Loueke, Antonio Sánchez, Billy Childs and Linda Oh.

[79] The 2021 All-Star Global Concert was pre-taped and streamed online, with contributions from artists in cities around the world, including New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Cape Town and Paris.

Participating musicians represented 17 nationalities and included Melissa Aldana, John Beasley, Dee Dee Bridgewater, A Bu, Igor Butman, Cyrus Chestnut, Jacob Collier, Andra Day, Mandisi Dyantyis, Amina Figarova, Roberta Gambarini, Kenny Garrett, Herbie Hancock, Angélique Kidjo, Ivan Lins, Joe Lovano, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Dianne Reeves and Veronica Swift, among others.

[81] Following the All-Star Global Concert, PBS in the United States broadcast a special two-hour retrospective titled "International Jazz Day 10th Anniversary Celebration."

The program showcased highlights from the previous decade of Jazz Day festivities, including performances by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Chaka Khan, Annie Lennox and Sting.

[82] Marking 10 years since the inaugural concert in 2012, in 2022 International Jazz Day celebrations centered around United Nations Headquarters in New York and were themed around peace and unity in recognition of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises.

Artists including Ravi Coltrane, José James, Gregory Porter, Hiromi Uehara, David Sanborn, Erena Terakubo and Youn Sun Nah gave performances from the General Assembly Hall.

In a memorable moment, Hancock performed his original composition “Maiden Voyage” alongside Coltrane, James Genus, Zakir Hussain, Brian Blade and Randy Brecker.