One question has troubled Martin Ludlow in his decades as a concert and event promoter in Los Angeles. In a city filled with excellent jazz musicians and a century of history with the genre, why isn't there a local equivalent to the massive festivals that cities like Montreal, New Orleans or Montreux, Switzerland, have built? One where music transforms the city's clubs, restaurants and parks for entire nights?
The inaugural Los Angeles Jazz Festival, coming this summer in August, will be the biggest push in a generation to build that here. Ludlow's event, which combines his passion for jazz with the logistical strength of his former life as a councilman and union leader, hopes to draw 250,000 fans across the city for a month of concerts that will culminate in a stadium-sized show at Dockweiler Beach. It will be one of the largest events of its kind in the world and the largest black-owned festival of its kind.
“This festival is meant to uplift our ancestors who came to this country in captivity, terrorized and brutalized,” Ludlow said outside City Hall on Wednesday. “It's also about celebrating the end of those last bastions of Jim Crow racism, the days when we were denied access to drinking fountains, swimming pools and public beaches. Since the beginning of this journey, we have been very intentional in telling the narrative of that human rights fight called Jazz.”
Flanked by Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmembers Heather Hutt, Traci Park and Tim McOsker, and jazz figures like Ray Charles Jr. and Pete Escovedo, Ludlow promised an invigorating occasion for Los Angeles' local jazz scene and the city's faltering tourist economy. That jazz scene welcomed new investments like Blue Note LA and lamented the closure of beloved clubs like ETA.
This festival, however, hopes to have a larger scale with upcoming mega events like the World Cup and the Olympic Games. The 25-day event in August will spread across the region, with free concerts in parks in all 15 council wards and 150 late-night shows in clubs and restaurants across the city. A Caribbean street fair highlighting the African and Latin roots of jazz is coming to El Segundo, along with guided tours of historic Black coastal sites like Bruce's Beach and Inkwell Beach.
The festival culminates with a two-day concert at Dockweiler Beach that hopes to attract 40,000 fans a night. While there is still programming in progress, the scope of Ludlow's ambition is formidable: The festival will ban fossil fuels from its footprint and has earned the strong backing of the California Coastal Commission. For decades, the Playboy Jazz Festival (now Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival) was the defining music event in Los Angeles; this could eclipse him several times over.
“Martin, I've been on this 15-year journey with you. Through all the ups and downs, I'm so excited that this is the year,” Mayor Bass said at Wednesday's event at City Hall kicking off the festival. “This is Los Angeles that will welcome the world. One of the best things we have to offer is our entire culture.”
Ludlow is a colorful figure in Los Angeles politics, a former council member and executive of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor who pleaded guilty to embezzlement in 2006. Since then, he delved into community activism and embarked on a successful third act as a concert and event promoter, organizing socially conscious events with his Bridge Street label, which has produced shows for Stevie Wonder, The Revolution, Sheila E and Snoop Dogg, along with civic events such as the ceremony that renamed Obama Boulevard in Los Angeles.
“During this journey, one can only imagine there will be many ups and downs,” Ludlow said. “When you have those low moments, you want a friend who can really help you.” He had many of them on stage with him Wednesday announcing what could be a new flagship jazz event in Los Angeles.
