Dear Listener ,

As we approach our Fall Membership Drive—yeah you right, it starts in 10 days on the 25th !—we are reminded more than ever how important your participation is to the health and well being of our incredibly precious music culture. Here are a couple of cases in point:

I just returned from a national public broadcasting conference this week, and the buzz is that no matter which party prevails in November, funding for non-commercial radio stations is likely to be zeroed out sooner or later. In our case that represents about 10% of our annual operating budget. This would be a serious setback to WWOZ, meaning less services, less content, less staff, less everything, thus marginalizing our Guardian of the Groove role. We won’t go off the air, that’s a promise, but our ability to support the local music scene will be diminished. Just as with every other thing they’ve thrown at us, we’ll give it that much more effort. And I know you will too. What we’ve got here in this city is too important to lose— or to allow to be marginalized.

Which brings me to my second point: Ever since I can remember, to an admittedly partisan observer such as myself, there seems to have been— sometimes more, sometimes less— a steady effort on the part of some of our citizens, aided and abetted by various politicians and local city agencies, to make life unbearably hard for our culture bearers. Before opening up this can of worms, I just have to say I can’t, for the life of me, understand how anyone doesn’t get—I mean really get, not just lip service get—how essential our social aid and pleasure clubs, our Mardi Indians and our local musicians who build upon centuries-old traditions—are to this city, its identity, its uniqueness and its economic well-being. Unfortunately, a few in the music community, through their abusive actions, provide the pretext for over-the-top enforcement of what usually turn out to be 4th-World ordinances and permitting processes. To date, attempts to address the underlying problems seem to have been patchwork and provisional. At this point, I seriously doubt that the political process is up to the challenge. Many of us in the music community are coming to the conclusion that we are quickly approaching a tipping point. We celebrate the Treme bicentennial in October, yet know in our hearts that post-Katrina Treme has been decimated, gentrified and diminished as a vibrant music scene.

I am beginning to doubt that we can laissez-faire this situation on a business-as-usual basis. What would it take to reverse the trend? We’ll need innovative approaches that understand that you can’t buy (and therefore replace) what we have here in New Orleans. We’ll need institutional sensitivity and imagination—not an oxymoron if you place qualified people in new systems designed to protect long-term interests as opposed to the short-term business gain of selected pressure groups— much as was done generations ago with the Vieux Carré Commission. Anyone who cares will have to get involved.

As they say, If not now, when? If not me, who?

In the meantime, a strong WWOZ is one of the best guarantees of our traditions and our local music culture. How strong our voice is will depend on you.

Yours in bass drums and cummerbunds,

David Freedman
General Manager

HBO's Treme returns on Sunday, September 23 for its third season. The Peabody Award-winning series focuses on the lives of Antoine, LaDonna, Toni, and, of course WWOZ. To whet your appetite, check out our preview, including the season 3 trailer and a clip entitled "Delmond Starts a Chant with his Tribe".

» Preview Season 3 of HBO's Treme

The seventh annual Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival comes to Lafayette Square Park October 12-14. Presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, this festival celebrates Southern soul with the best in local and international blues and R&B talent, including Keb Mo, Clarence Carter, Latimore, Larry Burton and a host of other acts on two stages. In addition, a dozen vendors will be serving up outstanding home-style barbecue.

» Blues & BBQ Fest

The Treme is an essential part of who we are at WWOZ, the result of two decades spent broadcasting from the Tree House in Armstrong Park. So we're thrilled to celebrate the bicentennial of this singular neighborhood October 16-21. The slate of events as diverse as the Treme itself includes a candlelight block party, a club crawl & treasure hunt, a brass band blow out under the bridge and lots more.

» Check out the Treme Bicentennial

WWOZ's membership drives are the best times to hear one-of-a-kind performances by New Orleans' brightest stars. Catch all the fun of our Fall Membership Drive from September 25 - October 5 by tuning in! WWOZ is part of the living, breathing experience that is public radio in New Orleans, and it requires membership support to keep broadcasting the music that moves you.

» Support WWOZ!

Two major fall music line ups have been announced for New Orleans: Wednesday evenings in Lafayette Square, and Thursday evenings at Armstrong Park! Lots of favorites are scheduled, including Dr John, Anders Osborne, John Boutte, Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam's Funky Nation, and more. Check 'em out!

» Fall Music in Lafayette Square and Armstrong Park

Picadillo is a popular dish not only in Cuba, but all over Latin America and the Philippines. Its name derives from the Spanish "picar" meaning "to chop" or "to mince"; the dish itself is a spicy, Hispanic version of hash. This recipe comes to us courtesy of Chef Louis "Jack" Treuting, Culinary Director, Rouses Markets.

» Cuban Picadillo Recipe