I didn't see anything about this on the forum yet. I just heard about this yesterday and thought it was priceless.



It seems that after a recent Tower of Power performance in Albuquerque NM, a city councilman who was in attendance helped himself to a pair of David Garibaldi's drumsticks from the stage and then invited himself back to the dressing room for some free food. Here's a link to the news story: http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/archive/2010/02/11/709279.aspx



Here's an email from David Garibaldi in which he explains things and includes a copy of the letter he wrote to that council member, which he then CC'd to the entire city council. The whole thing probably skirts close to making a mountain out of a molehill -- BUT I'm with Garibaldi on this one. I think this story really plays into everybody's frustrations with politicians these days. Here's the email and the letter ---



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Folks,



By now you've received an email about an incident that happened on a Tower of Power gig last week in Albuquerque, NM. What you received from Dennis (who, before reading the email, said he thought I might have hit my head out here on the road) isn't quite accurate, so I'm sending you the email wrote addressing the situation.



The email I sent to this gentleman details the facts about what happened. The word "pizza" came from a paper in Albuquerque, and was something they made up...they were trying to make a little "funny"!



Seeing as how this is now going around and it sounds funny, "Drumsticks and Pizza", I thought I'd let you in on what really happened.



Pretty weird...I was going to leave it alone, but the encounter with this person was so troubling I couldn't sleep.



Right or wrong, this is what I did.



Anyway...my email to this guy details what took place. I Cc'd the other city council members so that they would know what happened. One of them forwarded it to the local TV station, and from that point, it was on!



Oh boy!



Hope you're all doing well!



DG



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Here's the email I sent...the gentleman's name is Don Harris and he's an Albuquerque city councilor.



Don,



David Garibaldi here. I'm the drummer with the Tower of Power, and we met Saturday evening at The Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce gathering. Ever since our meeting I was troubled by what transpired, so I thought I'd drop you a line and express my thoughts to you.



Just to recount the events surrounding our meeting...



Prior to our show, you and your son came into our dressing room without asking and introduced yourselves to me, our guitarist Jerry Cortez, and trumpet player Mic Gillette. You wanted your son to meet us, which we were more than happy to do. We spoke for a few minutes and you mentioned that you were a lawyer and a politician and that you played saxophone at one time, had studied music and when you began to play after graduating, you said music wasn't a very good life.



You expressed this to some folks who have been very successful musicians all their lives. I'm 63 years old and have been playing the drums since the age of 10, and a working musician since the age of 17. As a boy, my dream was to travel the world playing the drums...I'm living my dream. My work is well documented and my reputation speaks for itself.



After the show I again saw you and your son backstage, and you showed me a pair of drum sticks that you had taken off of my drum set. I was pretty surprised and said that your taking them wasn't a good idea. i didn't want to make a scene and allowed your son to keep them...you said something about not knowing what the "protocol" was. Then, in the dressing room in front of most of the band members, you asked me why that wasn't ok...I replied "because you didn't ask".



Again, I didn't want to make a scene and embarrass you in front of your son and said he could keep them, but in retrospect, I should have asked for the sticks back and said what I'm saying now. Our dressing room is our sanctuary before shows where we can relax and focus on our performance, so I wasn't expecting to have to deal with you in that way.



That "protocol" you mentioned isn't really protocol...it's my property, and you had no right whatsoever to my property. You're a lawyer and should know this. Obviously, the rules don't apply to you. The dressing room was our private area, and you had no right to be there without permission. Again, I guess you thought because you're a city council member, you can go where you want, and take what you want. Sorry. You took my property without my permission, and thought it was ok. Your now son thinks it's ok too. Where did you get this idea that you could take what's mine without asking?



You came into our dressing room without an invitation, ate our food without asking, and also took my drumsticks without my permission as a prize for your son. Yes, it only a pair of drumsticks, but sir, they're my drumsticks and they mean something to me...they represent my life and all I've worked for.



I hope we don't meet again...you're what wrong with politicians today. You represent yourself and your own interests and definitely showed how little respect you have for what I do. You're not welcome at our shows. We've been doing this for 42 years, and are serious about our craft. We're also serious about the impression we leave behind.



Your bio says you studied the saxophone with the late Jackie McLean...one of the greats. I'm a fan of his and often listen to his recordings. You studied with someone who understood the tradition of the instrument and respected it. Based on your behavior, I wouldn't include him on your bio...if he knew what you were up to, he probably wouldn't approve of it.



It was an embarrassing moment, totally unacceptable and I have no recourse but to write you, and to Cc your colleagues on the city council, so they'll know what kind of person they're working with, if they don't already. If I knew any media people there in Albuquerque, I'd be including them here as well.



Aside from this, it was a tremendous event, staffed and attended by some very nice people...my compliments to a very professional Joe Bufalino and his crew for making us feel welcome.



Respectfully,



David Garibaldi

Drummer - Tower of Power





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