Text by Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi
Three days ago my union endorsed Bill de Blasio to be the next Mayor of New York City. Honestly I don’t know whether he’s the right guy to be on the J4JA bandwagon. I don’t know what he has promised the union…us. But in case he forgets the J4JA campaign, I promise you that I and my musician friends and colleagues – who believe and are active in this campaign – will remind Mr. Blasio of all the promises he did to our Local 802 President Tino Gagliardi. Today I registered to vote. This will be the first time for me voting!! I have no idea who I’ll vote for…de Blasio? Hmm…will do my research. Try to meet him and ask him how he would clean up the NY jazz music club scene. I’m old enough not to believe what politicians promise in their election campaign. President Obama is a good example for this. What Mr. Obama promised during his election campaign and what he has achieved as the president by now are two worlds.
Anyway I can’t endorse Bill de Blasio at this time because I still don’t know what he really stands for (but please watch the video below in which he announces his candidacy). In the next weeks I’ll try to find out why my union endorsed him. I’ll try to find out why the leader of the campaign Bob Cranshaw what he thinks of this man. Are we really endorsing a politician who wants to fight for the J4JA campaign? Or is his intention only to use our votes and money to win the election?
I’m very sure that many jazz union members and non-union members don’t care about politics. But because I and DooBeeDoo care I would like to see them to change their minds because simply we’re the union. The union has to listen to us musicians. We aren’t babies. On the contrary we want to be involved in the campaign and don’t want to play only Dixieland music at rallies. Again we musicians are the union but only when we’re united…all union musicians, regardless of what music style, should be an equal part of the J4JA campaign, such as Broadway musicians, western classical musicians, jazz musicians, blues and rock musicians, improvisers, folk and roots music, etc..
So “what do we want, Mr. de Blasio?” Here is a clear answer: all musicians want a fair pay scale, pension contributions, protection of recording rights and a grievance process to address abuses. Can you make this possible? Are we asking too much? My answer is no.
All NY musicians, members and non-members, please find out for yourself or with me and DooBeeDoo whether our union chose the right candidate! And please think of this campaign as a civil rights movement!
Text by J4JA (August 13, 2013)
Jazz music filled the air as the Associated Musicians of Greater New York Local 802 yesterday announced their endorsement of Bill de Blasio to be the next Mayor of New York City. The energetic jazz band included Bob Cranshaw, Jay Brandford, Ray Marchicka, Howie Gordon, Martha Hyde and Bud Burridge.
Local 802 President Tino Gagliardi praised de Blasio’s work for social and economic fairness, saying “Bill de Blasio has dedicated his career to championing economic and social justice for every New Yorker, including the hard-working musicians whose artistry is key to our city’s cultural and tourism economy.” Gagliardi also praised de Blasio for his commitment to education and specifically to ensuring that every child receive a quality arts education in New York City public schools. He went on to hail a possible de Blasio administration as “music to the ears of working people.”
Mr. de Blasio is also standing with jazz musicians in calling upon NYC club owners to stop exploiting the artists who bring patrons into their venues. Here he is speaking with Justice for Jazz Artists supporters at the rally including bassist and jazz institution Bob Cranshaw, pictured below.
Photo courtesy of J4JA
