Jazz great Marsalis bails out of concert ; arts group threatens lawsuit

Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has canceled a March 16 concert at the Aronoff Center for the Arts “in response to the recent boycott situation in Cincinnati,” the center's management announced Thursday.

The cancellation prompted threats of a lawsuit against a boycott group by the Cincinnati Arts Association, which oversees the Aronoff Center.

“Obviously, in the wake of other recent cancellations, we are distressed by Mr. Marsalis' decision,” said Steve Loftin, president and executive director of CAA.

The world-famous jazz musician's cancellation comes a day after word that the largest union of state employees would not be holding its convention here in 2005 because of the 7-month-old boycott. One local union official said Thursday that the union is reconsidering that decision.

The Marsalis announcement is a victory for the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, which sent letters to entertainers asking them to boycott the city until demands for what it terms racial and economic justice are met.

Among those who have honored the request are actor-comedian Bill Cosby and R&B groups the Temptations and the O'Jays.

Harris Cohen, press agent for Mr. Marsalis, said an official statement from the musician would be made today about the cancellation.

In a letter to the Rev. James W. Jones on Thursday, the CAA said it would sue for what is known as “tortious interference” unless the group stops urging artists to avoid the city. Such a lawsuit would seek to recover more than $76,000 in damages from cancellations at CAA venues. The CAA oversees programming and management at the Aronoff Center, Memorial Hall and Music Hall.

“We decided that the coalition through their actions are interfering with our ability to do business,” said Mr. Loftin. “We cannot simply accept this blatant action against our efforts or sit idly by and allow such action to take place without pursuing every reasonable attempt to stop it.”

Mr. Loftin said the coalition — he did not target the Cincinnati Black United Front, another boycott group — can avoid the lawsuit by meeting the CAA's demands by March 16. Demands include the coalition having no further contact with artists performing at their venues and turning over all information about artists contacted by the group.

Boycott leaders applauded Mr. Marsalis' cancellation and scoffed at the threat of a lawsuit, saying the group is protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. They said they never encouraged performers to break contracts to honor the boycott.

“In fact, we made it clear we would not encourage anybody not to honor their contract,” said the Rev. Stephen Scott, vice chair of the coalition. “Now, if an artist's conscience leads them not to perform, that's something that they have a right to do. There is no way that is grounds for a lawsuit.”

The law is unclear on the issue of filing suit against boycotters for tortious interference.

Earlier this year, the Adam's Mark Hotel chain filed a lawsuit against the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in an attempt to prevent the group from picketing its hotels in 23 cities. The NAACP wanted to organize protests over alleged discriminatory practices toward African-American guests at a Daytona Beach, Fla., hotel during the Black College Reunion weekend in 1999.

The hotel chain had asked a Maryland federal court judge to limit the boycott, claiming defamation and tortious interference. The judge refused to grant the request, citing the constitutional right of free speech.

Retired federal appeals court Judge Nathaniel Jones, a former NAACP lawyer, said the coalition could be susceptible to some liability.

“They have some exposure because the issues driving the boycott are separate from what the arts association does,” he said. “It would be different if we were talking about discrimination against performers or segregated audiences, but the arts association has no control over their grievances.”

CAA officials said earlier this week that sales for the Marsalis event were good — an estimated 800 tickets — despite the concert being three weeks away. Seats for the concert cost $38, $34 and $25 each.

Mr. Marsalis is one of the most accomplished and acclaimed jazz artists and composers of his generation.

In 1997, the 40-year-old trumpeter became the first jazz artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music.

The Marsalis announcement follows a similar decision by the 37,000-member Ohio Civil Service Employees Association.

That move brought criticism Thursday from city and state lawmakers, and even from within the union itself. Councilman David Crowley, a Democrat with strong labor ties, agreed to mediate talks with the union, saying “part of the problem is people outside of Cincinnati not having all of the facts.”

And a $1,250 campaign contribution from the union to the 2000 campaign of state Rep. Steve Driehaus, D-Price Hill, did not mute his criticism of the union. He said he spoke with executive director Irwin Scharfeld Thursday.

“I asked if he was aware that there is not a single African-American elected official, to my knowledge, that is supportive of the boycott, and he was not aware of any of this,” he said. “It appears they made this decision rashly.”

Mr. Driehaus said state officials and others have been too quiet on the boycott effort until now.

Bob Charlton, the president of a local chapter of the union, said the union leadership may reconsider.

Union leaders are “reluctantly admitting that they may have been a bit precipitous,” he said.

The city did have one success Thursday, when the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill told Mr. Luken it had decided against moving its June convention away from Cincinnati.

Though the group did discuss boycott issues with the city, spokesman Bob Carolla said NAMI was most concerned with the safety of the 500 people with mental illness who will attend.

Mr. Carolla said the city's announcement was “premature,” because the group wants follow-up meetings.

Still, Mr. Luken's office promoted the decision with a news release thanking the group for “taking the time to find out the facts about our fine city.”

I don't like the calls for a boycott - I think boycott organizers should spend more time on helping young men not get involved with the police in the first place - but I guess they do have the right to contact entertainers and express their views. The entertainers can always ignore their requests.

BTW, I didn't know there was a Pulitzer Prize in music.

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