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GG: court musicians



Leon, I couldn't agree more on your comment on the court system,
but you know, there are probably a lot more lawsuits involving 
musicians and other artists which deserve to be heard, but for
proprietary reasons, we will never hear them. I'm even grateful 
to Ron Davis for sharing the Gould Estate vs publisher case.

Some of our readers may recall William Kapell, the very talented
and promising, young American pianist who died in a plane crash in 
the 50's after an Australian tour. The reason I mention this is 
because I happen to admire WK's recordings. They are all wonderful
--pops and crackles aside. I learned recently from Tim Page's WK 
documentary that his family (he left behind his wife and two children)
sued the airline for a million dollars. The question came down to 
how much was/is an artist worth. The case was represented by the late 
Melvin Belli, the famous San Francisco lawyer. Accordingly, Bernstein 
and Copland were among those who gave testimony. 


What I would like to know is how much was the settlement? More,
more importantly, which recording of his did Melvin play in court? 
Does anyone know?