Double Bass Kolstein Legal issues

[Ross Kratter]

Manny just posted this:
Knowing Barrie and having been a customer for many, many years, I don’t know if I believe a single word of this.

 

[Ross Kratter]

I should note that Barrie responded by posting a broken heart emoji on his personal Facebook page.

 

[Lee Moses]

Manny just posted this:
Knowing Barrie and having been a customer for many, many years, I don't know if I believe a single word of this.

At the very least, he is confirming that Kolstein's has been engaging in shady business practices.

 

[rogerbmiller]

I am attaching the YouTube transcripts in case anyone wants to study them. One document is with time stamps and the other without time stamps. If I were Manny's attorney I wouldn't want that Video up much longer so if someone with a Mac could screen record it for posterity, that might be a good thing to post here too.

QUICK IMPORTANT NOTE: Let's keep things professional and tempered in this thread just as we have been doing thus far and as hard as it may be after watching this video. We want this sticky thread to stay open so that it can remain up to date with new developments such as this recent statement from Manny. If this thread is open and up to date, that is of value to the DB community. I probably don't need to write this but so many stickies of this nature in the DB forum get shut from time to time for "clean up." Anyhoooo...

There is a lot in his Hostage-Video-style statement that strikes me as contradictory and what is noteworthy is that though he accuses Barrie of certain things, he does not at all address the issues that have been covered in the press. None of this is a surprise- it is a very common tactic in litigation to make counterclaims, and from personal experience, these can be untrue. Also noteworthy, he names specific people in this video and intimates that they had knowledge about the things of which he accuses Barrie. That could be him signaling to Barrie that he will depose and possibly call those individuals as witnesses. Not saying this is his strategy, but from personal experience, this kind of thing happens in litigation.

I may post the transcript inserting more thoughts from my point of view as a former litigant if anyone is interested. Just absorbing this for now as I am sure many are. Last I checked, his video had 1K views.

 

[MannyAlvarez]

I am attaching the YouTube transcripts in case anyone wants to study them. One document is with time stamps and the other without time stamps. If I were Manny's attorney I wouldn't want that Video up much longer so if someone with a Mac could screen record it for posterity, that might be a good thing to post here too.

QUICK IMPORTANT NOTE: Let's keep things professional and tempered in this thread just as we have been doing thus far and as hard as it may be after watching this video. We want this sticky thread to stay open so that it can remain up to date with new developments such as this recent statement from Manny. If this thread is open and up to date, that is of value to the DB community. I probably don't need to write this but so many stickies of this nature in the DB forum get shut from time to time for "clean up." Anyhoooo...

There is a lot in his Hostage-Video-style statement that strikes me as contradictory and what is noteworthy is that though he accuses Barrie of certain things, he does not at all address the issues that have been covered in the press. None of this is a surprise- it is a very common tactic in litigation to make counterclaims, and from personal experience, these can be untrue. Also noteworthy, he names specific people in this video and intimates that they had knowledge about the things of which he accuses Barrie. That could be him signaling to Barrie that he will depose and possibly call those individuals as witnesses. Not saying this is his strategy, but from personal experience, this kind of thing happens in litigation.

I may post the transcript inserting more thoughts from my point of view as a former litigant if anyone is interested. Just absorbing this for now as I am sure many are. Last I checked, his video had 1K views.

Hi Manny here- I feel like we should just schedule a facebook live and you could ask me anything you want! Does that sound like a plan? I like where you are going with it but no, you are not accurately portraying it. You are saying the transcript? I could just post it here if its better for you. I had another script also I was going to use but this was better. Took me about 4 hours to write it, it was actually very therapeutic.

 

[rogerbmiller]

Look who joined TB 11 minutes ago.

 

[MannyAlvarez]

So.... where does LaFaro's bass reside now? Whatever happens with all of the fallout, we all hope that piece of history hopefully ends up in the right hands.

We do not own that Bass. It was donated to the ISB and I believe it is up in Canada now? There is a University out there that I believe has a wing on Scott's bass. You can always reach out to the ISB directly as I believe that people may still be able to borrow it for recordings or gigs?

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

QUICK IMPORTANT NOTE: Let's keep things professional and tempered in this thread just as we have been doing thus far and as hard as it may be after watching this video. We want this sticky thread to stay open so that it can remain up to date with new developments such as this recent statement from Manny. If this thread is open and up to date, that is of value to the DB community. I probably don't need to write this but so many stickies of this nature in the DB forum get shut from time to time for "clean up." Anyhoooo...

Agree with the bolded part entirely. And this thread is being closed for moderator review since it went off the rails this afternoon. I am consulting with the other moderators and admins about the best way to handle the situation. Up to now I have stayed out of this thread because it has largely been concerned with what is publicly known. Yes, there has been some speculation about the unknown details of the situation, but that speculation has been generally been acknowledged as such. I admit that I have been very busy and have not scoured every post, since I hadn't seen anything really egregious on my morning glance throughs.

However, the situation has gotten more complicated, as it often does in situations where there is a complaint about a well known maker or business. This is because of our site's primary rule:

Rule #1: Respect your fellow members. All registered users must address fellow members with the utmost respect at all times. If you do not agree with a fellow member, be courteous in your response. Thomas Jefferson said it best: "When I hear another express an opinion which is not mine, I say to myself, he has a right to his opinion, as I to mine".

Because of the limitations of text-based communication, the expression of intent can be tricky. One of the most common triggers of rule violations is the misinterpretation of intent behind a post. Use smilies often, and remember, it never hurts to begin a response with "In my opinion"...

If you do not address everyone on the board with respect, be prepared to lose your membership.

Please remember that threads are not your personal property and others are welcome to post relevant comments in them, including clubs and ads. We do not allow exclusionary posts here, so please do not state that certain other members (for any particular reason) cannot post in your thread.

In situations like this, when a business is being discussed in a negative light in the forums, we encourage that a representative of that business feel free to weigh in with their side of the story in the thread in question. This complicates matters because of the site rule cited above. To put a point on it, once the person representing the business is a member of Talkbass, the above rule applies to them as well as the rest of the thread participants. And this is the line that has been crossed here since earlier today. If we assume that Mr. Alvarez is who he says he is - and at this point I think we need to do that - then the thread will need to be cleaned of all blatant disrespect and we will all have to observe Rule 1 with extra attention moving forward. After reading the direction the thread turned, I would point out that this applies to anyone and everyone on both sides of the issue.

If the consensus of the other mods/admins is that the thread should be reopened after cleaning, then it will need to be kept respectful, professional, and informational moving forward...as mentioned, which was how it started before things turned ugly.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I am going to reopen the thread now in the interest of everyone, but with the following caveats:

1) Rule 1, as cited above must be followed by everyone at all times. If it is not, then I will be forced to implement the warning system (which I usually try not to do unless absolutely necessary) and/or issue reply bans.
2) This thread is only of use if it sticks to factual information like public documents, provable facts etc. and avoids name calling, charged accusations and speculation.
3) As in all situations like this, the party against whom publicly available legal complaints are being filed is free to weigh in with their side of the story - after all, the premise of our legal system has always rested upon "innocent until proven guilty" - but the same rules cited above apply equally to all parties, no matter which side of the issue they take.
4) Sarcasm and other forms of passive aggressive trolling will be very carefully monitored. Just don't give into the temptation to get "digs" in. Unlike much of the unregulated internet where unfounded accusations, misinformation, and overt trolling seem to be not only permitted but actually algorithmically encouraged, this is not the case here. Talkbass can be, and should be, better than that.

 

[rogerbmiller]

Just to keep information as current as possible, I am attaching the Federal complaint from the folks referenced in the NY Post article.

Also noteworthy, the NY Post corrected the title of their article, revising the value of consignment fees allegedly not paid down to $700K from $2MM. This seems to be more in line with what is in this complaint.

Long Island music shop allegedly cheated owners after selling instruments worth more than $700K on consignment

An internationally-renowned Long Island music store sold valuable bass violins on consignment — and failed to give the owners the millions in proceeds, according to a pair of lawsuits.

nypost.com

 

[rogerbmiller]

It looks like Barrie Kolstein's attorney filed a request for discovery in response to Manny's YouTube video on the very same day the video was posted. I am attaching the request here. It specifically is seeking documentation including texts, emails and recordings supporting each of Manny's allegations about Barrie as made in the video.

If I had to guess as to the strategy here, Barrie's attorney is setting Manny up for a defamation suit, assuming he will be unable to provide documentation supporting his allegations in the YouTube video.

The request gives Manny's side 20 days to provide the documentation, so we will hopefully know more about this soon.

Very interesting.

 

[SAlcott]

What a sad mess.

 

[WG Plum]

The combination of commerce and art sure can get ugly.

 

[Masher]

Sucks for the community of players.
Such a niche business, in a pretty close location from Manhattan to the Hamptons, where you probably have thousands of potential customers with money to spend, they blew it.
Now their business must be people who don't know, or just do small purchases and quick repairs.

 

[peterpalmieri]

I’ve known Barrie since I was in my teens. I’m in my 50s now and my kids rent a cello for school from the shop. I bought my first bass from the shop, I owned a really nice Andreas Morelli when I was in college. Sold it back to buy our first house. I’ve been a witness to the Lafaro Prescott restoration, been to master classes and currently have a travel bass.

I ended up working in finance and that has worked out extremely well for me. Barrie and I recently had a nice conversation about how it’s worked out in my life not having music be an income driver in my life.

Because of my career, I do have experience with closely held businesses, buy sell agreements and family businesses. I have never spoken to Barrie about that. But it can be complicated and I wish them both the best of luck.

In spite of the fact of this turning into a public spat I will continue to go about my business as usual.

 

[damonsmith]

The combination of commerce and art sure can get ugly.

It is good time to remember these shops are in business and trying make money and the money they are going after is ours. There is nothing wrong with that and in fact we need it. Still, best to always keep your wits about you and don't let yourself get too cosey with a big shop like this. Good shops that understand the long haul don't gouge or pull fast ones because it means more of your money over time. However, at any given time any of these shops could be stressed by big debts and other unforeseen costs and try to get it out of you. It often just depends on when you walk in the door.

We have to remember there are jobs around music that we need that have far less glory than we get from playing. People who do these jobs may love music but they are doing them to make a living.

At Museums, for example you have the artists and the curators and then a lot of other staff it takes to make an exhibition that gives less and less of a $h!+ about the art the further away you get from the people who get the actual credit. Same thing with music.
We just just have to keep our eyes open while understanding that we need the help of people working towards completely different goals than ours.

 

[rogerbmiller]

There are two material updates everyone might find interesting.

First, the Essex House Landlords have filed a motion for summary judgment to collect $256K in back rents. They allege that Manny and his counsel have not been responsive thus summary judgment is warranted. If granted, there would be a judgment against him for the full amount without further proceedings. See attached.

The second update is really disturbing. Barrie Kolstein has filed an affidavit with the court dated May 11 alleging that Manny came up from Florida to the Baldwin store in the past few days and took all of Barrie's inventory that was supposed to be consigned even though the consignment agreement with Manny stipulates that the instruments must remain at the Baldwin shop. He further alleges that Manny took some personal property including his computer, his business files and other personal effects of sentimental value.

Allegedly, certain employees of the shop refused to help Manny remove these instruments which suggests they knew he should not be moving them. There are time stamped photographic exhibits attached to the affidavit showing the shop stocked one day and emptied the next. Police have been notified

This is all very bizarre and if true, this seems to fall squarely into criminal territory at this point.

The affidavit is too large to upload a PDF so I am linking it here. If anyone has the ability to download a compressed PDF and can post it that would be much appreciated.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[SAlcott]

Yikes.

 

[WG Plum]

Well, it can get dark and twisted, cain't it?

 

[rogerbmiller]

Well, it can get dark and twisted, cain't it?

Oh yeah. It gets even darker when you wonder what else might be going on.

For example, let’s say these allegations are true and last year manny sold $700k plus of consigned instruments and paid the owners nothing. Then ask yourself how he might have reported that on his tax returns and imagine where things can go from there.

This is a really ugly situation at this point.