{"id":471456,"date":"2025-12-25T20:58:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T20:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/471456\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T20:58:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T20:58:29","slug":"kennedy-center-christmas-eve-jazz-concert-canceled-over-trump-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/471456\/","title":{"rendered":"Kennedy Center Christmas Eve Jazz Concert Canceled Over Trump Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA Christmas Eve jazz concert held annually for two decades at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts<\/a> was canceled by its host this year in protest of the addition of Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s name to the Washington, D.C., building. <\/p>\n

\n\tChuck Redd<\/a>, a jazz\u00a0drummer and\u00a0vibraphonist who has hosted the annual holiday \u201cJazz Jams<\/a>\u201c at the Kennedy Center since 2006 (he took over for previous host Keter Betts, a jazz bassist who died in 2005), told the Associated Press last night that he decided to drop this year\u2019s event after Trump\u2019s name was added to the venue by its Trump-appointed board.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,\u201d Redd told The Associated Press. The concert would have included performances from seven jazz musicians.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe addition of Trump\u2019s name to the venue appears to be in violation of a 1964 law that prohibits the addition of names or memorials to anyone other than John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated in 1963. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) filed a lawsuit on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking a declaration that the name of the arts institution is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and that a board vote last week to change the name is null and void.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBecause Congress named the center by statute, changing the Kennedy Center\u2019s name requires an act of Congress,\u201d Beatty\u2019s lawsuit stated. \u201cBut on December 18 and 19, 2025\u2014in scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic\u2014the sitting President and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied center after President Trump. This is a flagrant violation of the rule of law, and it flies in the face of our constitutional order. Congress intended the Center to be a living memorial to President Kennedy\u2014and a crown jewel of the arts for all Americans, irrespective of party. Unless and until this Court intervenes, Defendants will continue to defy Congress and thwart the law for improper ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Trump\u2019s name was added to the venue, Roma Daravi, spokeswoman for the center, defended the board\u2019s authority to change the name. \u201cThis action is in line with the precedent of the State Department adding President Trump\u2019s name to the Institute of Peace. And the previous Administration renaming military bases.\u201d she said in a statement. (The renaming of the military bases that had Confederate names was authorized by an act of Congress in 2021.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe jazz concert is just the latest casualty of Trump\u2019s takeover of the venerable arts institution. Earlier this week, the American College Theatre Festival suspended its 60-year partnership<\/a> with the Kennedy Center, with Festival officials saying the affiliation is \u201cno longer viable\u201d due to \u201ccircumstances and decisions that do not align with our organization\u2019s values.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Kennedy Center has not yet commented on the jazz concert cancellation, with its official website<\/a> merely confirming that the concert was canceled. The website also indicates that admission to the concert was free of charge. <\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the artists who have canceled Kennedy Center appearances post-Trump takeover are Issa Rae, Peter Wolf and a planned production of Hamilton, among others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Christmas Eve jazz concert held annually for two decades at the John F. Kennedy Center for the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":471457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[213462,69,213980,213981,50,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-471456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-chuck-redd","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-jazz-jams","12":"tag-john-f-kennedy-center-for-the-performing-arts","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115782215459721065","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}