John Legend, Janelle Monáe Headlining Los Angeles Jazz Festival’s Beach Event

The inaugural Los Angeles Jazz Festival unveiled its first set of artists who will be part of the multiday event’s Jazz on the Beach, with stars John Legend and Janelle Monáe topping the bill.

The L.A. Jazz Festival is a 17-day experience with activations all over Los Angeles featuring award-winning musicians, and the Jazz on the Beach will take place on the closing weekend, Aug. 22 and 23, at Dockweiler Beach. Other acts on the bill for the final weekend on the beach include Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton, Original Koffee, Raphael Saadiq, Charlie Wilson, Joey Alexander, Big Freedia, Ezara Collective, Free Nationals & Friends, Nubya Garcia, Pedrito Martinez, Alfredo Rodriguez, Poncho Sanchez and Justin-Lee Schultz.

The special weekend will feature special performances and exclusive collaborations, including “Michelle Coltrane Celebrates the Coltrane Centennial” and an appearance by the L.A. Jazz Festival Foundation Youth Band.

Additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

The festival kicks off Aug. 7 with a free opening night event at Leimert Park with food and music. Lalah Hathaway and Chief Adjuah are scheduled to take the stage, and additional performers will be announced.

“From the Motherland and through the pain of oppression came the fierce improvisation, the very heartbeat, born in New Orleans that now shapes every musical genre across the globe,” L.A. Jazz Festival Founder and CEO Martin Ludlow said in a statement.

Tickets for Jazz on the Beach weekend are now on sale via LAJazzFestival.com, and a variety of experiences will be available, including cabanas, VIP, general admission and community tickets.

StubHub is the official ticket marketplace for the festival, and Airbnb is the inaugural title sponsor.

L.A. Jazz Festival aims to attract 250,000 attendees throughout its 17-day run and establish itself as a landmark cultural and civic event that makes all of L.A. a stage, and that would position it as the third-largest jazz festival in the world and the largest Black-owned jazz fest ever.

In addition to opening night at Leimert Park and the closing weekend at Dockweiler Beach, the large-scale festival includes a free block party in Venice titled The Caribbean Street Carnival, which will feature four stages and legends of New Orleans, Cuba, Afrobeats and Latin jazz.

There will also be 25 Jazz in the Park concerts held in urban parks across L.A. County, including Moreno Valley’s Civic Center Amphitheatre, Porter Ranch’s Edward Vincent Park and Jane and Bert Boeckmann Park, Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley, San Dimas Bonelli Park, Magic Johnson Park and many more.

There is also a Jazz After Dark series of late-night pop-ups in clubs, restaurants and other small community-based venues across the city, including Ebony Beach Club, Ambassador Auditorium Pasadena, Somerville and more.

There will also be Coastal Cultural Tours to reflect on the history of Coastal Racial Push-Out, a State of Jazz Conference and a L.A. Jazz Youth Camp, which is free to attend and will bring over 2,000 young people from across L.A. County for workshops, masterclasses and performances.