Willard Jenkins named the 2024-2025 Library of Congress Jazz Scholar

By Bridget Arnwine

photo by Jati Lindsey

One of Jazz music’s greatest living advocates will present a lecture this coming Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at the Library of Congress as part of the Library’s event series. Willard Jenkins, who was also named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 2024, was selected as the Library of Congress Jazz Scholar for the 2024-2025 season. The author, radio broadcaster (WPFW’s finest), journalist, concert host, festival organizer, arts executive, and mentor has dedicated much of his life to the advancement and celebration of jazz music. Now it is jazz music’s time to celebrate Jenkins.    

Born in Pittsburgh, PA, but raised in the greatest city on earth (Cleveland, OH), Jenkins cultivated his love for jazz at an early age. Inspired by his father’s vast record collection and job in newspaper, Jenkins started writing about jazz as a college student at Kent State University. Since then, Jenkins has spent more than five decades writing about and promoting jazz music.

He is the current Artistic Director for the DC Jazz Festival, but he’s also led and collaborated with other festivals, including the Tri-C Jazz Festival, the BeanTown Jazz Festival, and the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival. Jenkins’ byline includes contributions to well-known and long established publications such as JazzTimes and Downbeat magazines in addition to his own very important work featured in his online platform OpenSky Jazz, and the books he authored including the biography of the great Randy Weston titled African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston and Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story, an anthology of interviews he conducted with African American jazz journalists that highlight their experiences covering the music.    

Jenkins’ lecture is scheduled for 6:30 pm in Whittall Pavilion.