Highlights From The 2025 Jazz Congress
Written by David Ginsburg on January 22, 2025
by Tom Lucci, Host, Standard Time, Mondays 3-6pm and WICN Board Member
Nearly 500 enthusiastic jazz fans gathered at Jazz Congress 2025 on January 8 and 9 at the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex overlooking New York’s Central Park. Among them were yours truly, WICN Standard Time host Tom Lucci and Image Archivist Kofi Poku, longtime WICN event photographer. It was an uplifting, inspiring, thought-provoking, emotional, and ACTIVE couple of days!
The multi-talented John Clayton received the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award for his decades of excellence as a bassist, bandleader, educator, and many other roles. His son, pianist Gerald Clayton, presented the award.
Keynote speaker Bryan Stevenson gave a wide-ranging address that extended the lessons of his journey, from growing up poor to “beating the drum for justice” defending death-row inmates – a story that became the celebrated book and film Just Mercy. Mr. Stevenson stressed that 2025 is a moment to be hopeful: “hope is our superpower.” Jazz music provides a soundtrack for the struggle for justice: “tell the truth, give a chance for beauty.”
Two longtime musical stalwarts, Joanne Brackeen and Roger Dickinson, were honored by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation. Their conversation was moderated by Jon Batiste, a young superstar who is following paths they blazed.
The Congress wasn’t all talk. At the end of Wednesday’s session, all gathered in the Appel Room inside the complex for an unforgettable memorial concert celebrating guitar great Russell Malone, who passed away suddenly last summer. Dozens of musical friends came on stage to tell their stories in words and music, among them pianists Kenny Barron, Monty Alexander, Benny Green, and Donald Vega; bassists John Clayton, Ron Carter, and Christian McBride; guitarists Dave Stryker and Ed Cherry, and more. From Ron Carter’s solo You Are My Sunshine to Diana Krall’s moving They Can’t Take That Away From Me to Ekep Nkwele’s show-stopping Come Sunday, musical highlights abounded.
Women continue to make remarkable strides in the jazz world. The panel of Grammy-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, rising saxophone star Lakecia Benjamin, and flutist Patrice Rushen had a far-ranging and candid conversation that brought forth both promise and reality.
The Congress concluded by celebrating the legendary drummer, “Mister Snap Crackle” Roy Haynes: looking back to his 1940s to 2010s career and looking ahead to his centennial in 2025. Musical insights and priceless anecdotes galore came from giants and colleagues Dave Holland, John Pattitucci, and Terri Lyne Carrington (moderator), and family musicians Graham Haynes, Craig Holiday Haynes, and grandson (great drummer in his own right!) Marcus Gilmore.
Along the way, there were panels on technology and AI; exchanges with European and Latin American jazz cats; the power of jazz for the incarcerated; industry professional tips perspectives; “where is the jazz in jazz festivals?;” “Pops and Dizzy: Passing the Torch;” and a session of Jukebox Jury with on-air colleagues from around the country. And yes, there were places to go after the conference: Kofi and I were uptown, downtown, and all around to dig the likes of Conrad Herwig and the Latin Side All-Stars; the Bill Charlap Trio; and Terri Lyne Carrington’s (thrilling) young artist showcase. Sadly, we had to split town just as the NYC Winter Jazz Fest Marathon and JALC’s Unity Jazz Fest were getting underway. It’s a Hell of a Town, as they say, even in the cold winds of early January!\
