Some of LA's citywide Jazz Festival canceled just days before two-week party slated to begin

Some parts of the LA Jazz Festival were canceled just days before the citywide, two-week party was slated to begin, leaving performers and fans alike in the dark. 

The event, which was supposed to begin Friday, was billed as the country's biggest Black-owned Jazz festival, similar to the legendary Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. However, just before it was set to get underway, most of the scheduled events were canceled. 

"I think it's gonna be a great event; we're expecting over a quarter of a million people to come into LA to really celebrate the best of LA," said LA Jazz Festival CEO and former LA City Councilman Martin Ludlow, back in February when the show was announced. "We want to put free concerts in public parks in all 15 council districts."

Along with what were supposed to be dozens of concerts in city parks, the event was also expected to bring late-night shows to local clubs, a Caribbean street fair in Venice and a headliner concert on Dockweiler Beach with artists like John Legend and Janelle Monáe. 

In February, Ludlow said that 75% of the tickets would be free for attendees, and that just the final headliner show would be ticketed, with up to 40,000 people expected each of the two days. 

While that show is still on, CBS LA had its helicopter fly over the beach, where there did not appear to be any sort of preparations for a concert of such scale underway.

Now, the website simply reads: "August 22-23. Updated event info coming soon."

Along with the thousands of disappointed music fans are the hundreds of performers who had their bookings canceled without much warning. 

Nicholas Mycio was one of those artists who were beyond excited for the event. 

"I mean, this was going to be a huge opportunity for someone like me," Mycio said. "It doesn't just impact me personally; it impacts my band members, my videography crew, my photography, my recording team."

Those who had their performances nixed received an email earlier this week to say the show was postponed. 

"Due to unforeseen permitting and production challenges, we have made the difficult but prudent decision to postpone this year's Jazz in the Park, Jazz After Dark, as well as the opening night event and the Caribbean Street Carnival," the email from the LA Jazz Festival Talent Team said, in part.

Mycio said that aside from the time he spent preparing, he had to agree not to take any jobs for 30 days before and after the event, so he's already out on plenty of work. 

Maurice Montoya, a music agent, had 15 performers booked to the event, most of whom passed on gigs for the show. He says that they're still flying into Los Angeles on Thursday night because of their non-refundable airline tickets. 

"Alerting artists one week in advance of their engagement at a festival, if the festival is cancelling, essentially pulling the rug out from under them, is beyond unprofessional," Montoya said. "The thing that's most disappointing is the festival put itself forward as if they were championing the roots of the music, the African American roots of the music, and that this was gonna be a festival that was for the Los Angeles community."

CBS LA reached out to LA Jazz Festival producers, who said via text that the confusion was that there were a number of elements to the overall festival, from small shows to the headline weekend. They said that the final schedule was still being perfected and that there would be an update as soon as Friday.