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Schell says her prized flute was tossed by cleaners. | Source: Dennis Hearne<\/p>\nGaea Schell and her flute were inseparable for decades. She got it in 1989 as a teenager and continued using it, her skills blossoming until she became a professional jazz musician. Though it\u2019s not a high-end instrument, she carted it to international performances and even salvaged it from a Los Angeles flea market after it was stolen in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it looks like the flute is gone for good after housekeepers at her Tenderloin apartment building trashed it, she claimed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had a nice, dark, sweet sound that they don\u2019t make like that anymore,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Schell, who is also a pianist, may not be a household name, but she\u2019s had a distinguished career on the jazz circuit. She has shared stages with Nancy King, John Stowell, Marcus Shelby, Tootie Heath, and members of the Clare Fischer Big Band (IYKYK).<\/p>\n
On Monday, she filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court against the landlord, Landmark Realty, seeking compensation for the flute and other discarded property worth approximately $20,000.<\/p>\n
Schell, 50, who is representing herself in the case, had searched for housing for more than a year after a long-term relationship ended. She wanted quarters that were not just affordable but close to her gigs and available on a month-to-month basis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finding a home that checked those boxes was \u201cutterly impossible,\u201d until she came across a furnished top-floor unit at 641 O\u2019Farrell St., known as the Cornelia Suites.<\/p>\n
Schell inked a deal with Landmark Realty and, after paying a $1,000 security deposit Dec. 3, received keys and got permission from the property manager to store belongings in the unit before her official move-in date, her lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 7, Schell stored her belongings in a closet in the seventh-floor apartment. Among the first items tucked away in her new home was her professional Yamaha concert flute, worth thousands of dollars. There was also jewelry, clothing, medications, original musical compositions, artwork, important documents, and photographs, Schell claims.<\/p>\n
Three days later, the property manager told her that housekeepers had emptied the closet and thrown her belongings in the trash, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just absolutely speechless,\u201d Schell said. \u201cI was actually really, really sick too … and then I get this call, right before the holidays, basically a work season.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit alleges that the property manager initially took responsibility, telling Schell to send a list of the items and promising to \u201cmake this right.\u201d But after meeting with company leadership, he told her in a subsequent conference call that it was \u201cjust an accident\u201d and there would be no compensation, the lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n
Schell says her prized flute was tossed by cleaners. | Source: Dennis Hearne<\/p>\n
The flute held particular significance for Schell. She performed with it at last year\u2019s Havana Jazz Festival and has recorded three CDs with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gone through a lot of loss, and it did kind of throw me over the edge a little bit, honestly,\u201d Schell said. \u201cThat flute is irreplaceable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The flute had been stolen once before, in 2017 in San Francisco. Schell discovered it listed for sale on eBay \u2014 the instrument had ended up in Los Angeles, where someone had purchased it at a flea market. A friend in L.A. picked it up from the police and drove it back to San Francisco for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n