Musician quits jazz fest over ‘SLAV’ show
MONTREAL— American musician Moses Sumney has pulled out of the Montreal International Jazz Festival because of a controversial show that is directed by a white man and features a white woman singing songs composed by Black slaves.
Sumney says he was disappointed by the festival’s decision to book a show “in which a majority-white group of singers, led by a white Quebecois director, sing African-American slave songs, sometimes dressed as field slaves and cotton pickers.” The musician tweeted he could not present his music at the festival in good conscience after learning it continued to defend the show publicly “even after adamant protests — during which one of the showgoers (the majority of which were of course, white) slapped a woman of colour protesting the show.”
Sumney, 28, noted his festival concert was scheduled for Tuesday — “a day sandwiched between Canada Day and Independence Day, two bittersweet holidays that have long left Black, brown and Indigenous voices out.”
Sumney, who moved the already sold-out show with his band to another smaller venue, did not respond to a request by The Canadian Press for an interview. Many Twitter replies supported his move.
A jazz fest spokesperson offered only a brief statement about Sumney’s decision to pull out of “SLAV,” which is directed by renowned Quebec playwright Robert Lepage. The festival “respects the decision that he made and we hope that he’ll come back in the future,” said Jessica Alcide..
“SLAV” is one of the most popular events at the jazz fest and the downtown theatre added an extra 11 shows after the first five were sold out. It has been criticized as “a racist appropriation of Black culture.”