The inaugural BKLYN Jazz Festival, planned for Brooklyn's Prospect Park, has been postponed, JazzTimes reported on August 9. The one-day event, led by organizers Joel Harrison, Erik Ekstein and Alex Skolnick, had booked Jason Moran, Chris Potter, Linda May Han Oh and a special edition of the Brooklyn All-Stars featuring Vernon Reid and Micah Thomas.
The postponement came within hours of the inaugural LA Jazz Festival being scrapped, which had been set for August 7 through 23 with an opening night at Leiman Park Village featuring Chief Adjuah, Pete Escovedo and Lalah Hathaway, building to a two-day "Jazz on the Beach" show at Dockweiler Beach with Janelle Monae, Parliament-Funkadelic, John Legend and Terrace Martin.
JazzTimes reported that fingers were being pointed at the LA festival's founder, Martin Ludlow, a former Los Angeles City Councilmember who had pleaded guilty in both state and federal cases over using union workers and funds for his own campaign. Ludlow had announced the festival alongside LA mayor Karen Bass at a City Hall press conference in February and kept promoting it up to its cancellation, at one point projecting 250,000 attendees.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Ludlow cited "significant, unanticipated last-minute public safety and municipal costs" tied to permitting the beach show, and said organizers hoped to "present all the components of this incredible cultural opportunity" in 2027.
San Diego Union-Tribune critic George Varga wrote on Facebook that Ludlow's stated goal of matching the size of the Montreal and Montreux Jazz festivals in a first year seemed "wildly ambitious and unrealistic," also pointing to a lack of executed contracts with performers.
The BKLYN Jazz Festival's own team said on their website that a new date would be announced once confirmed, with all ticket purchases refunded automatically within 72 hours. It's the latest addition to the festival tracker and our jazz coverage.
The facts
- BKLYN Jazz Festival was set for Brooklyn's Prospect Park
- It booked Jason Moran, Chris Potter and Linda May Han Oh
- The LA Jazz Festival was also cancelled the same week
- Ludlow projected 250,000 attendees for the LA event
- Refunds for BKLYN tickets are automatic within 72 hours
- LA organizer Martin Ludlow had pleaded guilty in a prior campaign finance case
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