Beloved Kennedy Center Christmas Jazz Tradition Halted After Host Steps Away

The music stopped without warning. For more than twenty years, Christmas Eve at the Kennedy Center meant live jazz, shared memories, and a ritual that felt untouchable. Then, in a single season, it vanished. A quiet rebranding, a presidential name, a musician’s conscience, and a lawsuit collided—and a cherished tradition was left han… Continues

What disappeared this year was more than a concert; it was a sense of continuity in a place built to honor memory. Chuck Redd’s decision to walk away rather than perform under a rebranded name turned an abstract institutional change into something painfully visible. His absence left a silence where there had always been swing, solos, and communal warmth on a cold night