Zoë Anglesey

[Johnny E]

I know I'm a little late on this, but I wanted to relate a story that's been saddening me.

A few years ago I ran into a woman named Zoë Anglesey at Bud's Jazz Records in Seattle. She said she was a jazz writer and was looking for jazz in Seattle. We talked for a while, exchanged stories and it turned out that this woman lived in Brooklyn and was on vacation. I told her about a few things happening in town and she gave me her card and told me to give her a call if I ever was in NY and to send her stuff for review if my band had a CD coming out. She was very pleasant and warm and I have kept her card in my wallet ever since.

Well, my band has a CD coming out in September so I was putting together a list of writers, radio stations, etc. to mail to. I did a Google search on Zoë and I saw a site advertising a benefit for her. I dug a little deeper and I discovered that she had passed away earlier this year. She died of non-smoking related lung cancer. I was very saddened.

Now, I only met her once and we only talked for a ½ hour or so, but for some reason it has affected me. She seemed so full of life and had a youthful spirit. I did a little more research on her and it appears that she was an activist and poet as well and was well respected in the NY jazz scene.

So…did anyone here know her and be willing to share a story or two about her? I’d love to find out more about this woman who I knew very little about but was touched by once in a record shop in Seattle.

[Philip]

Johnny, the Jazz Journalists Association did a nice tribute.

Edited August 29, 2003 by Philip