The inaugural L.A. Jazz Festival is dead before it ever began. The citywide event, which was set to feature John Legend, Janelle Monáe, Parliament Funkadelic and dozens more, was canceled just hours before its Friday opening ceremony.
Festival founder Martin Ludlow, a former L.A. city council member, cited last minute permitting problems in a statement. “Due to significant, unanticipated last minute public safety and municipal costs associated with the final permitting of the On The Beach Festival, we have reached the decision to unfortunately postpone this year’s inaugural LA Jazz Festival,” Ludlow said. “Although this decision was an extremely difficult one to reach, our commitment to the audiences and artists participating in the festival is to have a first class experience worthy of the great legacy of jazz and our great city.”
The festival had been announced back in February at a City Hall press conference attended by Mayor Karen Bass, with organizers projecting 250,000 attendees for the weeks long celebration. Programming included free concerts across L.A. parks, late night club pop ups and a two night closer at Dockweiler Beach featuring Legend, Monáe, Raphael Saadiq and Charlie Wilson.
Musicians booked for the event described a chaotic lead up. One L.A. based saxophonist said he didn’t receive any cancellation notice until just days before the festival’s scheduled start, despite being booked months earlier. The festival’s website and Instagram have since been scrubbed of most details.
Ludlow says organizers remain committed to bringing the event back in 2027.
