Seasons Greetings!
2007 has been a very good year for WWOZ. I hope it's been a good year for you, too. Bright moments for WWOZ this year include:
- The partnership we forged with the Library of Congress and the Grammy Foundation to preserve our thousands of hours of live performance recordings.
- Our National Music Festival Tour, using two new remote broadcast / recording trucks to take ‘OZ listeners stage front at the Telluride Music Festival, Detroit Music Festival, Ocean Beach (San Diego) Music Festival and Blue Bay Music Festival in St. Croix (the last two without the trucks!).
- Our new and improved website, which will get richer and richer in content now that we have a web editor (Tom Morgan) for the first time in our 12-year history. More about Tom below.
- Solid gains in our infrastructure to raise our level of professionalism and put our passion-driven miracle-of-a-radio station on more solid business footing.
But perhaps the most significant single achievement of all, the most unheralded moment in WWOZ’s development this year, is not all that shiny. And it was accomplished by you. What I am referring to, of course, is the result of our recent 3-day "Power Drive. You'll find a brief report on the drive below.
Whatever you are doing to celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year, I hope you'll spend some time listening to WWOZ. Below you'll find details on some of our holiday programming and a recipe that we thought you'd enjoy, along with some other station news. The recipe is from a New Orleans foodie who loves WWOZ.
Yours in mixed nuts & mistletoes,
David Freedman
General Manager
Power Drive A Success
We watched the results come in as more than 500 listeners from across the country and around the world showed their love with their generous donations to WWOZ. The success of the "Power Drive" combined with the results of our regular October drive added up to a 48% increase in contributions compared to last Fall. This impressive increase means that WWOZ is now a much healthier station.
Celebrate The Holidays New Orleans Style
Holiday Specials and Events: The holidays are right around the corner and so are WWOZ's special holiday listening treats. Tune in to celebrate the holidays New Orleans style. On our website you'll find details about the special programming our hosts have planned, special holiday happenings here in the Big Easy and a look at New Orleans Christmas CDs that might be great gift ideas for you.
A Recipe to Warm Up Your Holidays
Many people from outside New Orleans don't know of our rich Italian heritage in the city. Here's a quick and easy recipe for an Italian Peasant Soup that's sure to warm you up on a cold holiday evening.
Italian Peasant Soup
1/4 cup red onion, chopped fine
4 cloves of garlic, minced
6 cups of chicken stock
1 15-ounce can of white beans
1 head bitter winter greens such as broccoli rabe, mustard greens or escarole, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese to taste
Black pepper
In a large pot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium/medium high heat. Add onions, cook for two minutes on medium heat. Add garlic and cook two more minutes. Add white beans, black pepper and parsley and cook for a minute. Add stock, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. After about ten minutes add the greens, and let cook for about another 5 minutes. Pour into bowls and top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve with thick crusty bread and you have a meal unto itself. Depending on your use of canned chicken stock and canned beans, be very judicious with the amount of salt added. I recommend none. But some may wish to add some at the end, depending on taste. The pepper is necessary, however.
We plan to add a recipe section to our website in the future. Feel free so share some of your favorites with us. Enjoy.
Welcome Tom Morgan
We are pleased announce Tom Morgan as WWOZ's Web Editor. Tom's name should be familiar to many listeners for his Tuesday "New Orleans Music Show" and Wednesday's "Jazz Roots" show. Be sure to visit our website often to catch Tom's newest contributions and innovations.
WWOZ Street Talk: The Voice Of New Orleans Culture
On the air and on the web, Street Talk addresses issues vital to New Orleans' cultural rebuilding and shares stories from citizens. Recent Street Talk features have included residents' responses to an independent assessment of the Army Corps of Engineers flood protection plan and a piece on how Celestine Dunbar's cooking has found a new life at Loyola Law School. Visit our website to listen and learn more.
End-of-the-Year Giving
Maximize Your Tax Benefits: the end of the year is a great time for giving. As you consider all the organizations worthy of your support at this time of year, be sure to remember WWOZ. Before you ring in the New Year, please consider making a year-end charitable gift to WWOZ. Your gift is tax-deductible and means a lot to us. Thank you.
Swamp Shop
The 'OZ Swamp Shop is open and chock full of WWOZ gear, just in time for holiday shopping! Check it out and make sure to bookmark this spot, as we'll be adding more 'OZ merchandise that every WWOZ listener would love to own. If you've got an idea for something neat to put the 'OZ logo on, let us know, because we're always open to new ideas. You can also subscribe to the Swamp Shop RSS feed and you'll know whenever new merchandise is put up for sale.
WWOZ Quick Links
Playlists Online
Are you interested in an artist we played on the air? You can search playlists by song title, band name, CD title or label.
WWOZ Swamp Shop
The 'OZ Swamp Shop is open and chock full of WWOZ gear.
New Orleans Music Calendar
There's live music in locations all around New Orleans. We've got a music calendar online.
