Inaugural LA Jazz Festival, Featuring John Legend, Postponed Indefinitely

The inaugural Los Angeles Jazz Festival was shaping up to be a massive two-week musical celebration, featuring the likes of Janelle Monáe and John Legend. Now, just hours before the festival was meant to kickoff on Friday, festival founder Martin Ludlow has announced that it’s been postponed indefinitely.

“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 in a statement on Friday. “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.”

According to the LA Times, organizers hoped that 250,000 attendees would be drawn in for the two-week festival, which was set to open Friday in Leimert Park. There were several components to the festival, including free Jazz in the Park concerts across the county and a series of Jazz After Dark performances. Monáe and Legend, as well as Charlie Wilson, Raphael Saadiq and Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton, were among the names set to close out the festival with a two-night celebration at Dockweiler Beach on Aug. 22 and 23.

The LA Jazz Festival website now says, “updated event info coming soon” for Aug. 22 and 23, though the LA Times reports that that portion of the festival has also been fully canceled.

“We are so grateful to all the artists — from our headliners to our musicians in the parks, many of whom went above and beyond to make this affordable to the community,” Ludlow said in the statement. “All current ticket holders for LA Jazz Festival events will be refunded in full within 30 days. We apologize deeply for this situation and vow to make this right over time.” You can view the full statement below.

The festival was the initiative of Ludlow, the CEO of the live events company Bridge Street Inc. Ludlow was once a Los Angeles City Council member before he resigned in 2006 and pleaded guilty to misappropriating funds and pivoting to community activism and his new company. The festival was announced back in February, with 75% of the tickets said to be free.

“We were encouraged by the enthusiastic support of the artists on the bill, the fans and our sponsors for this inaugural event, and we look forward to presenting all of the components of this incredible cultural opportunity for Los Angeles and the world in 2027 and beyond,” Ludlow said in the Friday statement.