The Leimert Park Jazz Festival is one of LA’s premier summertime events, serving our culturally diverse and family-friendly community. Our mission is to celebrate jazz, community, and the cultural heritage of the historic South Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park.
HISTORY
What started as a neighborhood block party in 2015 has evolved into one of LA’s premier summertime events. Executive Producer, Diane Robertson, noticed a hole when she realized there were plentiful jazz concerts across LA and wonderful cultural and music events in Leimert Park, but not a core eponymous Jazz festival hosted in Leimert Park. After 3 years of producing the beloved Sutro Avenue Summer Soirée block party, she approached her friend, Dwight Trible, the internationally renowned jazz vocalist and Executive Director of The World Stage in Leimert Park Village, to inquire about his interest in collaborating on curating a jazz stage at the event. He agreed, and the jazz stage was introduced in 2018 and enthusiastically received by attendees. The event was rebranded as the Leimert Park Jazz Festival in 2020.
For decades, Leimert Park has served as the cultural heartbeat of black Los Angeles. With a legacy of jazz, poetry, art, and African American culture, it is the home of legendary institutions and others poised to become legendary, such as The World Stage, The Vision Theatre, Barbara Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center, California Jazz and Blues Museum, and Art + Practice. The Leimert Park Jazz Festival will continue paying homage to this vibrant neighborhood’s historic past and bright future.
DIANE ROBERTSON
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
When Diane Robertson moved to Los Angeles in 2006, she was unfamiliar with Leimert Park. On one momentous Sunday afternoon, a friend took her to Leimert Park Village and she became instantly mesmerized by the community’s energy and splendor. The sounds of the drum circle and the smell of fresh sage made her feel like she was finally home. On that day, she committed herself to saving up and buying her first home in Leimert Park. Today, not only is she a proud resident and homeowner in the community, but she has become a neighborhood fixture as President of the Sutro Avenue Block Club and founder of the Leimert Park Jazz Festival. She intends for the Festival to contribute to the preservation of this community’s beautiful heritage of African American art, music, and culture for generations to come.
Diane makes a living as an entertainment attorney but makes a life as a prolific volunteer, having worked with non-profit organizations such as M.O.S.T.E., The Posse Foundation, and Los Angeles Urban League Young Professionals. She was recently appointed to her first 3-year term on the Board of the Los Angeles Conservancy. She also serves on the Executive Board of the John M. Langston Bar Association and is the co-chair of its In-House Counsel Committee. Diane is a founding member of the recently formed Coalition of Small Rental Property Owners, a grassroots group advocating for the rights of "mom and pop" property owners and the viability of the small rental housing industry. She is a graduate of the African American Board Leadership Institute and the Los Angeles African-American Women’s Public Policy Institute (and was 1 of 4 honorees at its 12th Annual Women In Action Awards). She has completed a 500-hour yoga teacher training at YogaWorks and has taught free yoga classes to the residents at the Downtown Women’s Center near LA’s Skid Row.