Kamasi Washington Headlines Santa Monica's New International Jazz Festival

Santa Monica is welcoming a new marquee music event: the inaugural Santa Monica International Jazz Festival, headlined by 2026 Grammy-winner Kamasi Washington, with bassist and bandleader Stanley Clarke anchoring a program that will honor the centennials of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. The festival's free-to-the-public "Sunday on the Promenade" set on May 3 will turn Third Street Promenade into an open-air jazz listening room.

For a city whose nightlife has been defined by rock venues and the Troubadour's legacy, the jazz festival is a deliberate cultural pivot — one that aligns with Santa Monica's steady push to recenter its cultural calendar around homegrown talent and the broader Los Angeles creative economy. The Coltrane and Davis tributes are being programmed with guest ensembles that span generations.

If you're going: the Promenade shows are free; ticketed performances spread across multiple venues including BroadStage. Plan transit ahead — festival weekends on the Promenade historically mean surge parking and walking in from points further east.

Sources: Grateful Web, BroadStage