Elizabeth's Men's Hair Styling; The deranged owner verbally and physically assaulted a group of young jazz musicians providing the mellow soundtrack for neighboring coffee joint. Los Angeles, California

I was playing some music with a jazz quintet on the outside patio because we had been hired by the coffee place next door to play from 10am-1pm. We are a group of college-aged kids that are trying to get our music heard and to provide the community with more live music, so Cafe Luxxe graciously agreed to let us play jazz standards on their patio for no pay. Apparently Elizabeth, the woman that owns the barber shop next door, had not been notified about the music, and she became very angry that we were playing.

She came outside, interrupted our singer in the middle of a classic standard called "All of Me", and told us to turn down because we were too loud. She claimed the music was distracting, telling us that we were being selfish and that we are not "the center of the universe". Not only were we already at minimum volume, but she was the only person in the entire complex that wasn't enjoying the music and that felt that we needed to be quieter. We went around to all the other neighboring businesses, and they said the music was fine. Even the customers and other barbers in Elizabeth's didn't mind the music--it was only Elizabeth herself.

So, we continued to play. After the next song she claimed that we had ignored her and threatened to call the cops. Because the coffee place couldn't get in contact with their owner, they had no choice but to cut our set off after 30 minutes, and we had to pack up all the gear we had just set up for no cost. When we tried to reason with the hair styling woman, she wouldn't listen and started verbally attacking each of the members of our group. With a cold, menacing smile, she insulted the musicianship of each member of the combo, and called us ignorant, selfish, inconsiderate children.

In response, we brought her a stack of our business cards. She responded to that by throwing them in my face. When I tried to give them back, she grabbed my neck and tried to stuff them down my shirt. She began to cackle and mock me, sticking her tongue out and dancing at her victory. This woman is INSANE. She gets pleasure from insulting decent people with good intentions--truly a twisted human being. Nobody has tried to called the cops on jazz since the 40s. The members of the group and I have never had to deal with a person with such a deep, malignant hate for our music and our efforts.

We are all shocked and appalled at this woman's behavior. It is an insult to us, to the Cafe, to the patrons of the neighboring businesses, and to the music that we hold so close to our hearts. We hope that she will answer in some way to the unforgivable harm she has inflicted.