Fillmore Jazz Festival postponed to 2026 "due to lack of funding"
SAN FRANCISCO — It's considered the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast, but this year, the Fillmore may be filled with silence.
The Fillmore Merchants Association announced the cancellation of the jazz festival this week due to a lack of funding. But Ricardo Scales, the man known as the "Black Liberace," is vowing to let the show go on.
It wasn't a coincidence that Scales developed a passion for music. His mother, Patient Scales, started teaching him at the age of 5, and he hasn't stopped tickling the ivories since then.
After decades of playing at iconic venues throughout the Bay Area, he's now using his talent to try to save the Fillmore Jazz Festival.
"It doesn't have to stop and I feel that canceling it is a no no," Scales said.
As the Minister of Music at Jones Memorial United Methodist, Scales knew of a way to keep the event going this year.
"The church, when you really think about it, is a concert hall," he said. "You have seats. There's a stage. There's a piano and there's some microphones. So let the show go on."
He will be calling musicians with Bay Area roots to perform at several different churches in the Fillmore District. There might be a minimal charge this year to pay for basic costs and to raise money for next year.
"Show will go on," Scales said. "No matter where we're at, we're going to still do the show. That is how you survive, and people will come."
News of the jazz festival being postponed until 2026 quickly started spreading in the Fillmore.
"It's going to be bad," Fillmore Lee Washington said. "It's going to be sad that it's not going on this year."
The Fillmore Merchants Association says revenues from sponsorships and grants haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels. It's a free event that those in the community look forward to every year.
"It's a money situation," Washington said. "I can't do nothing about it because I'm broke."
The Fillmore is an area filled with a rich history of local music and artists.
"Fillmore was like Harlem to New York," Scales said. "The Fillmore is that to San Francisco."
Scales said that he's just applying lessons he's learned over the years to keep a vital event going through tough times.
"Somebody is always knocking you down," he said. "In the music business, there's this and that and that and this. The only way you can survive is, you don't quit. You don't give up."
