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Kennedy Center Honors: A one-night rCychurchrCO of soul, blues, jazz and jamsrC-The annual ceremony brought together musicians, movie stars, President Biden and several bears to pay tribute to Bonnie Raitt, Arturo Sandoval, Francis Ford Coppola, the Grateful Dead and the Apollo Theater.
rC-December 9, 2024rC-rC-rC-By Travis M. Andrews
rC-It was a musical evening at the Kennedy Center Honors rCo so musical, it turned out, that even Robert De Niro played piano.rC-Before anyone was lionized at the annual ceremony on Sunday night, Queen Latifah led a medley of songs connected to each honoree rCo from Bonnie RaittrCOs rCLSomething to Talk
AboutrCY to the theme from Francis Ford CoppolarCOs rCLThe GodfatherrCY rCo with De
Niro on keys. rCLThe PresidentrCOs OwnrCY United States Marine Band and JrCONai
Bridges performed the rCLStar Spangled Banner.rCY
rC-As the night went on in the Kennedy CenterrCOs 2,364-seat Opera House, the tunes kept coming.
rC-The 47th edition of the cultural centerrCOs marquee event honored Coppola, the beloved filmmaker; Raitt, the blues-rock star; Cuban American trumpeter and composer Arturo Sandoval; and jam-band trailblazers the Grateful Dead. (The honors went to three living members of the Dead rCo Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Bob Weir rCo as well as bassist Phil Lesh, who died Oct. 25 at 84. LeshrCOs son Grahame sat in his place.)
rC-Completing the lineup was the 90-year-old Apollo Theater, a nucleus for Black performers in Harlem that retains a packed calendar to this day. The ceremony marked the first time the Kennedy Center has honored a fellow arts institution, though it has sometimes departed from its usual format to pay tribute to bands, rCLSesame StreetrCY and the cast of rCLHamilton.rCYrC-rC-The evening
was going to be a swan song for David M. Rubenstein, the Carlyle Group co-founder and philanthropist who said in January that he was stepping down as Kennedy Center chairman only to announce in late November that he will stay until September 2026. rCLI want to apologize those who spent time and money on my retirement party,rCY he joked.rC-rC-President Joe Biden, first lady
Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff put their hand over their heart as the Star Spangled Banner is played during
the 47th Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
rC-It really was the swan song for President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, who were in attendance. Keeping to the usual spirit of the evening, politics werenrCOt raised, though Rubenstein thanked the Bidens for their service, along with several others in attendance, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
rC-And it might prove to be a swan song for a president attending the honors. President-elect Donald Trump skipped the Kennedy Center Honors throughout
his first term. (No word on if he plans to continue the trend.)
rC-The evening followed the usual script: five segments, a tribute for each nominee, while the honorees watched from a balcony near the president.rC-rC-The
question mark was the Apollo. How do you honor a building, one known not
only for music but also comedy, dancing and more.
rC-The answer: Do it all.
rC-The result: The centerpiece was easily the most exciting stretch of the evening.rC-rC-Queen Latifah poses on the red carpet at the 2024 Kennedy Center
Honors. (Maansi Srivastava for the Washington Post/for the Washington Post) rC-It began with a short speech by Queen Latifah, the eveningrCOs host, who called the Apollo the rCLheartbeat of Black AmericarCY while Kamasi WashingtonrCOs sumptuous saxophone erupted into a manic solo.
rC-After singer-songwriter Raye performed rCLCry Me a RiverrCY (Hamilton, not Timberlake), rapper Doug E. Fresh, clad in a sparking gold tuxedo, popped
up from a seat in the audience to beatbox and then explain why there was a small tree stump on the stage.
rC-It was a replica of the Tree of Hope found inside the Apollo. Performers at the venuerCOs famous Amateur Nights are supposed to rub it for luck. rC-rCLThe s--- doesnrCOt work,rCY comedian Dave Chappelle said, remembering his own
disastrous debut there when he was 15 years old and got booed off the
stage. rCLI couldnrCOt believe what I was seeing. The Black community agreed on
something!rCYrC-rC-Nonetheless, his feelings were warm: rCLThe Apollo Theater was a
church where we could talk like ourselves, to ourselves,rCY Chappelle said. rC-Tap dancing from Savion Glover followed, and the first half of the show concluded with a medley from country duo the War and Treaty featuring rCLYourCOre All I Need to Get By,rCY rCLAinrCOt Nothing Like the Real ThingrCY and
rCLAinrCOt No Mountain High EnoughrCY rCo beloved soul duets immortalized by Marvin
Gaye and Tammi Terrell rCo that had the room clapping into intermission.rC-rC-Bonnie Raitt poses on the red carpet at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors. (Maansi Srivastava for the Washington Post/for the
Washington Post)
rC-Raitt was the first artist honored on Sunday, with well-known musicians tackling some of her biggest hits as an interpreter of country, blues and rock-n-roll: Dave Matthews and Emmylou Harris sang rCLAngel from MontgomeryrCY;
KebrCO MorCO and Susan Tedeschi did rCLWalking BluesrCY; Brandi Carlile and Sheryl
Crow played rCLI CanrCOt Make You Love MerCY; and Jackson Browne, James Taylor,
Arnold McCuller and Crow performed rCLNick of Time.rCY
rC-Julia Louis-Dreyfus, an avowed Raitt fan, praised the artist as rCLall red hair and no bulls---.rCY Of RaittrCOs activism, the comedian said, rCLIt really
makes you feel like crap, but in a really good way.rCY Browne said that when he first met Raitt, she rCLlooked like Little Orphan Annie and sounded like Mae West.rCYrC-rC-(In one charmingly impromptu moment, Matthews grabbed the mic
to tell Raitt that he read in The Washington Post that she was raised a Quaker rCo exciting news to him since he was also raised a Quaker.)rC-rC-2024 Kennedy Center honorees Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Francis Ford Coppola, Apollo president Michelle Ebanks, Arturo Sandoval and Bonnie Raitt stand for the rCLStar Spangled Banner.rCY (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
rC-The music continued with the tribute to Sandoval, and the volume jumped up a notch. Trombone Shorty, Chris Botti and Cimafunk blasted Afro-Cuban melodies on their horns. The audience feasted on flamenco dancing while listening to a tapestry of tumbling rhythms and funky beats, all set
against an almost neon background that illuminated the Opera House as the crowd danced in its chairs.
rC-Andy Garcia, who portrayed Sandoval in the 2000 film rCLFor Love or Country,rCY said that when the Latin jazz innovator performed in Cuba, he was rCLshouting in the face of the oppressor.rCY Sandoval would eventually defect to the United States.
rC-Sandoval spoke very little English when he came to the U.S. 35 years ago, Garcia said. He paused. rCLNow, his English is worse.rCYrC-rC-Francis Ford Coppola
poses on the red carpet at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors. (Maansi
Srivastava for the Washington Post/for the Washington Post)
rC-The musicians got a break once it was time to honor Coppola, and some of the directorrCOs most famous Hollywood collaborators took a turn, sitting around a dinner table on the stage of the Opera House.rC-rC-Cue Robert DeNiro,
Laurence Fishburne, Al Pacino, Talia Shire (CoppolarCOs sister), Jason Schwartzman (his nephew), George Lucas, director Gia Coppola (his granddaughter) and Martin Scorsese.
rC-They mostly offered speeches about family and passion. Fishburne broke out some Italian to rCo this non-Italian-speaking reporter believes rCo express his
love for Coppola.rC-It was earnest, but at least it was funny.
rC-rCLI first met Francis Coppola when I was born,rCY Shire said, calling him the
rCLbest big brother.rCY Schwartzman, her son, said: rCLI wouldnrCOt trust my family
if I was on a circus trapeze. They might catch you, but theyrCOre going to give you notes.rCYrC-Pacino made a joke about rCLMegalopolis,rCY CoppolarCOs self-financed epic that opened this year to mixed reviews (and no shortage
of awe at its chutzpah). rCLHe broke the most important rule in film,rCY Pacino
said. rCLHollywoodrCOs first command: Never put your own money in your own film.rCY
rC-Coppola jumped to his feet in excitement when Scorsese told a story about the time Coppola was cooking red sauce, but they had to go to the movie studio to watch a cut of ScorseserCOs rCLThe Last Waltz.rCY The key to a good red
sauce is constant stirring, Scorsese said. Someone has to watch the sauce!
So Coppola attached a wooden spoon to an old projector and turned it on.rC-rC-And that, Scorsese said, is exactly how his friend approached directing.rC-rC-The Grateful DeadrCOs Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart
pose for a portrait on the red carpet. (Maansi Srivastava for the
Washington Post/for the Washington Post)rC-And then? Some jams, Grateful Dead-style.
rC-After a video featuring John Mayer, Norah Jones, both Ben and Jerry and San FranciscorCOs own Nancy Pelosi, actor Miles Teller climbed onstage to say, rCLBeing a fan of the Grateful Dead is nothing short of a religious experience.rCY
rC-HererCOs what church sounded like on Sunday: an all-star lineup of Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges, Sturgill Simpson, Don Was, Dave Matthews, Derek
Trucks, Susan Tedeschi and more playing classic Dead tunes like rCLFriend of the Devil, rCLRipple,rCY rCLSugareerCY and rCLNot Fade Away.rCY (That onerCOs a Buddy
Holly ditty, but the Dead made it one of their signatures.)
rC-One of the nightrCOs most touching moments wasnrCOt found in a speech. It was
when the long-deceased Jerry Garcia performed, in a manner of speaking,
with Simpson and Grahame Lesh. A video of the late Dead front man played along with the band, with GarciarCOs vocals filling the room.rC-A religious experience for any Deadheads in the audience, followed by David Letterman walking out of an old hippie van and pretending rCo we think rCo to be stoned.rC-rC-rCLI am so f---ed up,rCY he said. rCLIrCOd like to apologize to President
Joe Biden.rCY
rC-The night before SundayrCOs ceremony, the honorees received medallions at an
event at the State Department. As usual, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the power of the arts with a mix of genuinely funny lines (rCLIf you ever go to a Dead show, you can smell the feeling of communityrCY) and some clunkers (rCLBonnie Raitt is officially bratrCY).
rC-Crow and Mavis Staples toasted Raitt, who choked back tears. Coppola congratulated every person in the room, including himself rCo and shared his surprising connections with the other honorees. How members of the Dead scored rCLApocalypse Now.rCY How rCLwhen I was heavier and had a big black beard,
everyone thought I was Jerry Garcia.rCY
rC-Phylicia Rashad praised the Apollo, saying, rCLName somebody. Somebody great, somebody incredible. TheyrCOve all come through.rCY She listed some of the biggest names to grace its stage before exclaiming, rCLOh, my mercy!rCY rC-Sandoval brought his trumpet and belted out a heartfelt rCLGod Bless AmericarCY before getting the room to its collective feet to sing rCLWhen the Saints Go Marching In.rCYrC-rC-rCLWell, IrCOm glad I didnrCOt choose to open with rCyWhen
the Saints Go Marching in,rCOrCY deadpanned Al Franken as he began a toast to the Grateful Dead.
rC-The Dead were the final honorees to receive their medallions, and in his own impish way, drummer Mickey Hart tried locating what makes the honors so special, what makes music and art itself so deserving of recognition. rC-rCLItrCOs the only thing thatrCOs universal,rCY Hart said. rCLItrCOs right up there
with, you know, sex.rCY
rC-The Kennedy Center Honors will be broadcast Dec. 23 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS and streamed on Paramount Plus.