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Christmas Eve jazz show canceled over Kennedy Center name change

Drummer Chuck Redd said he canceled the Christmas Eve show he’s been performing for nearly 20 years at the Kennedy Center after President Trump added his own name to the building that serves as a living memorial to assassinated President John. F. Kennedy.

“When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” the jazz percussionist said.

Trump’s handpicked board voted to add the 47th President’s name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday. The building’s facade was soon after altered to reflect the renaming, though the legality of that process remains in question.

Redd began leading the holiday “Jazz Jams” in Washington, D.C. in 2006.

Jazz drummer Chuck Redd performs during the Jazz at Lincoln Center's 'American Anthems' performance at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York on Nov. 23, 2011. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)
Jazz drummer Chuck Redd performs during the Jazz at Lincoln Center's 'American Anthems' performance at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York on Nov. 23, 2011. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

The Kennedy Center’s website simply says the concert had been canceled without offering an explanation. The Trump administration didn’t comment on the Christmas Eve cancelation.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 signed bipartisan legislation creating a national cultural center in the nation’s capital. That act was followed by a fundraising initiative headed by President Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy. Congress voted to name the center after the 35th President two months after he was assassinated in 1963.

Numerous artists including opera star Renee Fleming, National Symphony Orchestra advisor Ben Folds, actor Issa Rae and the cast of “Hamilton” distanced themselves from the Kennedy Center under Trump’s presidency well before the name change was announced.

New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Jazz fans wishing to see a holiday performance at the Kennedy Center can still buy tickets to see The Jazz Cookers perform a pair of New Year’s Eve shows.

With News Wire Services



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