We like to rehearse like crazy. We don’t believe there’s any magic in music. It takes hard work and practice. | | Trombonist Ryan Porter performs with Kamasi Washington at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, July 9, 2017. (Dimitri Hakke/Redferns/Getty Images) | | | | “We like to rehearse like crazy. We don’t believe there’s any magic in music. It takes hard work and practice.” |
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| rantnrave:// In the past 72 hours, the GASLAMP KILLER has been dumped by LA club night LOW END THEORY and lost multiple gigs after a woman accused him of raping her and a friend in 2013; ALEX CALDER has been dropped by his label, CAPTURED TRACKS, because of a sexual assault allegation; the band REAL ESTATE has revealed it fired lead guitarist MATT MONDANILE last year because of "allegations of unacceptable treatment of women"; and the AUBURN, WASH., police department has said it would continue investigating NELLY even after a woman who accused him of rape said she won't testify and she wants the investigation dropped. The woman did not retract her story, though. Her lawyer reaffirmed the accusation and said, "She wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her." Is this the beginning of the "witch hunt" that one famous filmmaker fears in the wake of the sudden, shameful downfall of that one famous film producer? Or is this the beginning of the end of a witch hunt that's been going on for decades, centuries even? In an actual witch hunt, men are the hunters. In an actual witch hunt, men are petrified of women and don't believe anything they say. In an actual witch hunt, women and the men who stand up for them are officially silenced. It is only when the witch hunt ends that large numbers of women can feel safe to say "me too" and openly share their stories, and it is only when the witch hunt ends that powerful abusers can be called to account. So, yes, let us hope we never witness a witch hunt again. Is it reasonable to fear that someone, somewhere will now be falsely accused of something horrible, or may already have been falsely accused? Yes, it is always reasonable to fear that. That's why we must listen to all sides, and be careful and respectful—as we should have been doing all along. All the men named in the first sentence above have the right to be presumed innocent. "I think it's important that I be a part of this conversation," WILLIAM BENSUSSEN, aka the Gaslamp Killer, wrote in his defense; he claims the act in question was consensual. All the women, including Bensussen's accuser, who tweeted, "i've been silently suffering over this for many years," have the right to be listened to as well. Many more will no doubt come forward soon, in the music biz, in the film biz, in media, in tech and elsewhere. Is there anything more respectful we can do right now, as a culture, than to listen? And to not interrupt? And to remember who the victims are, and have been all along? And to put a stop to the behavior that victimizes them, which was not OK in the '60s and '70s, and not OK in the '80s and '90s, and not OK now?... RIP ZUZANA RŮŽIČKOVÁ. | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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