[AK View] The Most Powerful Performance of 2025: "Silence"

The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., an iconic symbol of American culture, has changed its name to the “Trump-Kennedy Center” (The Donald Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts). For President Donald Trump, who is known for exceeding expectations in everything he does, renaming the center was likely not a difficult task. The board of directors was entirely replaced with Trump loyalists, and the Trump-Kennedy Center, which should have been bustling with end-of-year festivities, was instead plunged into an unexpected silence. This was because the performance of jazz musician Chuck Redd, who had brought swing rhythms to the venue every Christmas Eve for the past 20 years without fail, was suddenly canceled. In the absence of music, political questions lingered on the stage. Chuck Redd canceled his own performance in protest against the renaming of the venue to the “Trump-Kennedy Center.” In response, the Trump-Kennedy Center’s board filed a lawsuit against Chuck Redd, demanding $1 million in damages.

American society was split in its reaction. While some criticized the politicization of art and the undermining of tradition, others praised his courageous act of protecting the musician’s conscience. Regardless, his decision is a significant one that recalls the very essence of jazz in the 21st century.

Tracing the history of jazz reveals a “genealogy of resistance” against oppression. Historian Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012) once said, “Jazz is the extraordinary music of ordinary people and the most powerful music rejecting the conformism of modern society.” From Hobsbawm’s perspective-as a jazz lover who also wrote criticism under the pseudonym Francis Newton-jazz is not the sophisticated lounge music that adorns the entertainment of the upper class. Alongside rock music, jazz is the only example in human culture to have originated from the margins and entered the mainstream.

Jazz is a unique form of art that combines the distinctive rhythms of Black people brought from the West Coast of Africa with European classical music. As the sound of the oppressed, it is imbued with sorrow and inherently contains elements of resistance. In the 1950s, Billie Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit,” which exposed racial discrimination, and Max Roach’s drumming, which was devoted to the civil rights movement throughout his life, both demonstrate that jazz served as the conscience of its era.

The most important characteristic of jazz-improvisation-also embodies the spirit of resistance. It maximizes the performer’s individual freedom, breaking away from the strict rules based on the composer’s score. This is an instinctive refusal to conform to standardized performance. Chuck Redd’s refusal to play at the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” which now feels like a symbol of authoritarianism and oppression, can be seen as an expression of the free improvisational spirit inherent in jazz. By refusing to let his music become a mere ornament for those in power, he preserved the pride of jazz. When the stage became a symbol that violated his beliefs, he put down his instrument, delivering a performance of “silence stronger than sound.” While he cannot avoid criticism for breaking his promise to the audience, no musician can be forced to play soulless music. The $1 million lawsuit Chuck Redd now faces ironically underscores the weight of the artistic value he has defended.

Jazz is not a fossilized relic of the past. It remains alive and breathing, always ready to stop playing and resist when faced with injustice. Chuck Redd’s concert cancellation will be remembered not as a “No Show,” but as a “No Surrender.” The “subversive passion” Hobsbawm spoke of pierces the cold air of Washington in the winter of 2025, questioning the true meaning of art. Though the lights in the concert hall have gone out, the message he left behind resonates more powerfully than any melody.