Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2025 gala tonight will celebrate the music of Duke Ellington and be hosted by Dave Chappelle.
NAPA, CALIFORNIA – JULY 29: Dave Chappelle speaks on the Black Radio stage at the Blue Note Jazz Festival at Silverado Resort and Spa on July 29, 2023 in Napa, California. (Photo by Richard Bord/Getty Images)
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Tickets to the gala—which will include a concert, dinner, dancing and an after-party at Dizzy’s Club—are still available. The concert also is being streamed at Jazz Live.
Chappelle, an alumnus of Washington, D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, has a long connection to jazz, Jazz at Lincoln Center said. It called him “a jazz fan who cites Thelonious Monk as one of his favorite musicians.” It also said he “is an amateur jazz pianist (who) has appeared at jazz festivals and clubs throughout the years.”
Mercedes Ellington, Duke’s granddaughter, is the gala’s honorary co-chair.
Performing at the concert, “Duke at 125,” will be the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; drummer Jeff Hamilton; flautist Baqir Abbas; vocalist Kate Kortum; alumni of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s signature education program, Essentially Ellington; plus rising stars in its youth programs.
Awards also will be bestowed at the gala. The 2025 Ed Bradley Award for Leadership in Jazz will be awarded to H. E. Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, founder of Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation and founder and artistic director of Abu Dhabi Festival. The 2025 Artistic Achievement Award will be awarded to Toshiko Akiyoshi, pianist and jazz composer.
New this year will be international awards honoring individuals who have built organizations that have had a great impact on their jazz communities. The inaugural recipients will be Greg Quigley of the Jazz Music Institute (JMI) in Brisbane, Australia, and Maribel Torre and Eugenio Elias of De Quinta Producciones in Mexico City.
Quigly’s award will be presented by JLCO trombonist and Jazz Houston founder Vincent Gardner, while Torre’s and Elias’ award will be presented by by JLCO saxophonist Alexa Tarantino and bassist Russell Hall.
According to Jazz at Lincoln Center, in 1996, “Quigley founded JMI, a private higher education provider based in Brisbane, Australia that delivers a range of courses in jazz performance, and also hosts Essentially Ellington Down Under.”
It also said Torre and Elias “have been dedicated jazz presenters for many years. For over a decade, they have hosted the JALC-curated New York Jazz All Stars series and bring nine bands to tour (their) country each year. In addition to producing visiting artists’ performances, De Quinta Producciones’ work offers educational programs and master classes that impact thousands of students while engaging new audiences.”
Chappelle, it added, “is the 2019 recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the 2025 NAACP President’s Award. Chappelle’s work in television and film includes his groundbreaking sketch comedy series Chappelle’s Show, which became the best-selling TV show in DVD history, multiple Netflix comedy specials and memorable guest appearances on Saturday Night Live. He has earned five Emmy Awards, including three for his Netflix specials and two for hosting Saturday Night Live (2017, 2021), where his most recent 17-minute monologue stands as the longest in the show’s 50-year history. Chappelle has won six Grammy Awards for best comedy album, including his most recent for The Dreamer (2025).”
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