[NewMusic] raphe malik tribute CD

[Damon Smith]

Ok, first of all we are talking about a Raphe Malik tribute organized 
by Marco Eneidi. Two great musicians that came up in the NYC free jazz 
scene of the 70s and 80s, that scene had some great qualities but 
political correctness was not one of them. That scene was raw, filled 
with drugs, crime, sex and violence.
Also, the quote in question is by Lester Young who's circle was also 
very different from ours, I am sure we could dig up some offensive 
quotes about  men from BIllie Holiday or Bessie Smith if we tried. I 
would also guess that Mr. Young meant it affectionately.

Secondly, Marco is one of my best friends and my primary musical 
mentor, I know him well and have watched him in many situations, one 
thing I noticed early on is that unlike a lot of musicians with outward 
P.C. appearances, he would always treat female musicians with equality 
on the bandstand, and often be one of the first to actually give women 
a chance to play in an equal setting, where (due to the fact that so 
many of the female musicians are classically trained) other men would 
only ask them to play their compositions, and then call the fellas 
again when it was time to "play".
While I would not say the Lester Young quote was appropriate for 
ba-newmus I would say that actions speak much louder than words on both 
sides of this issue.

Damon