By MORDECAI SPECKTOR
During a Dec. 24 telephone interview with the Jewish World from his home in New York City, David Weiss returned several times to a vexing situation he was trying to resolve.
The Cookers, a band of elder jazz artists that Weiss helped organize some 18 years ago, was booked to play New Year’s Eve shows at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
However, in early December, the current occupant of the Oval Office decided to append his name to the venue, via a decision by the center’s board members, most of whom the president personally selected. The website for the performing arts center (kennedy-center.org) now announces itself as “The Trump Kennedy Center.”
Who adds their own name to a memorial created by Congress to honor a slain U.S. president? (It’s a rhetorical question.)
Weiss, 61, a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader, weighed the pros and cons of playing the shows or canceling them. The day of our phone chat was “drop-dead day” for a decision.
“If we don’t [cancel the show] today, we’ll incur huge penalties — and there might even be some now,” Weiss explained.
In late December, numerous press outlets were reporting that jazz musician Chuck Redd had canceled his long-running Christmas Eve jazz jam at the Kennedy Center. And then the center’s president, Richard Grenell, announced that he planned to file a $1 million lawsuit “after the holidays” against Redd, according to ABC News.
Apart from the mainstream news, there was a social media buzz about whether musicians should play the renamed Kennedy Center — or take a stand against the fascist tide.
“The world’s changed. … You’ve got to have an opinion on everything,” Weiss commented with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
On a happier note, The Cookers are embarking on a winter tour that will bring them back to the Dakota stage on Feb. 1. They also will play shows in Detroit, Denver and Seattle, and return home for four nights at Dizzy’s Club, a beautiful listening room with windows looking out on the Manhattan skyline.
I last wrote in these pages about Weiss and The Cookers in 2014. The band has released at least two albums since that time; the latest is 2021’s Look Out! (Gearbox Records).
And the band’s lineup has changed: Tenor saxophonist Billy Harper left the band about two years ago. “It’s an unfortunate thing,” said Weiss.
Taking over the tenor chair is Azar Lawrence, a brilliant musician who, at 72, is not quite as elderly as some of his bandmates. Weiss mentioned that bassist Cecil McBee is 90. Among other achievements, McBee was part of saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s group that played on Forest Flower, an album recorded live at the 1966 Monterey Jazz Festival. It was a huge record that enabled Lloyd and his band to reach rock fans and others beyond the coterie of jazz fans.
I mentioned hanging with friends and listening to Azar Lawrence back in the 1970s, when he played with pianist McCoy Tyner and trumpeters Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard.
“Brief stints with Freddie and Woody Shaw,” Weiss affirmed and added, “but definitely a long stint with McCoy Tyner — a short time with Miles Davis, also. And a longer stint with Elvin Jones.”
In other words, Lawrence has been in the studio and on the road with some of the greatest 20th-century jazz musicians.
The rest of The Cookers, including Weiss, will return to the Dakota: Donald Harrison, on alto sax; drummer Billy Hart; Eddie Henderson, on trumpet; pianist George Cables; and bassist McBee.
When I talked to Weiss some years ago, between sets at the Dakota, he aired complaints about the way some club owners and bookers treat this ensemble of accomplished jazz artists.
“I’ve complained?” Weiss responded with feigned incredulity.
But things have taken a turn in recent years, as far as critical acclaim for The Cookers, bookings at clubs and festivals in Europe and a cover story in the January 2022 issue of DownBeat, the so-called jazz bible, are concerned.
During our conversation, Weiss had to jump off and take another call — “It’s one of The Cookers.” It was Dr. Eddie Henderson, physician and jazz trumpeter, checking in about the controversial New Year’s Eve gig in D.C.
“No one is comfortable with doing this,” Weiss explained about the bookings at the rebranded Kennedy Center. “But the repercussions of canceling at this late date could be really bad — like financially bad.”
On the other hand, many participants in the social media sphere have expressed the view that musicians should not play the Kennedy Center these days. The controversy harkens back to apartheid-era South Africa and playing the Sun City resort, when the United Nations had declared a cultural boycott.
Apart from his role in putting together The Cookers, Weiss has been involved in varied musical projects.
And he didn’t start off as a jazz musician. While attending California Institute of the Arts for photography, Weiss began to appreciate jazz. He then “did a complete about-face” and decided on music. He enrolled at North Texas State University, where he studied music and got his degree, in 1986.
Returning to New York, he discovered the jazz scene and took trumpet lessons from Tommy Turrentine and Bill Hardman.
Various jazz musicians guided Weiss in his career. “In the end, you wind up with the people who are nice to you,” he mentioned during our 2014 interview.
Weiss formed The New Jazz Composers Octet, which brought together a crew of talented jazz musicians. The group’s debut album, in 1999, was First Steps Into Reality. The group also became the supporting band for Freddie Hubbard, recording two albums (New Colors and On the Real Side) and touring with the iconic jazz trumpeter.
As a bandleader, before The Cookers, Weiss recorded albums under his name, including Endangered Species: The Music of Wayne Shorter and When Words Fail. His most recent album, Auteur (Origin Records), came out in 2024. The record is by the David Weiss Sextet, a top-notch group, and features Weiss’ original compositions, and tunes by Freddie Hubbard and Slide Hampton.
Getting back to The Cookers, Weiss acknowledges that the band is not playing “the most straight-ahead commercial music. … It would be nice to get more gigs and attention — guys of that magnitude should have that. I don’t think when I put The Cookers together that was the goal, but after a couple of years you get it: We’re doing this to make sure these guys get the attention they deserve.”
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At the end of December, the press reported that The Cookers had canceled the Dec. 31 shows at the Kennedy Center. In an email, David Weiss directed to a statement on the band’s website:
With deep regret, we must share that we are unable to perform as planned on New Year’s Eve. We know this news is disappointing, and we are truly sorry to everyone who made plans, traveled, and invested their time and resources to be with us.
This decision has come together very quickly, and we understand how frustrating last-minute changes can be.
Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice. Some of us have been making this music for many decades, and that history still shapes us. We are not turning away from our audience, and do want to make sure that when we do return to the bandstand, the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it.
Our hope is that this moment will leave space for reflection, not resentment.
To everyone who is disappointed or upset, we understand and share your sadness. We remain committed to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them.
The statement does not make a direct reference to the outrageous cultural contamination under the Trump 2.0 regime.
However, an article in The New York Times quoted drummer Billy Hart, who said that the center’s name change had “evidently” played a role in the decision to cancel. “He acknowledged that the group was concerned about possible reprisals,” according to The Times.
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The Cookers will play 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1, at the Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. For tickets, go to dakotacooks.com or call 612-332-5299.
(American Jewish World, Jan. 2026)
