Dear Listener,

Everybody always says that content is king in this new media world. But I disagree. Music—“content”—for example, doesn’t really come from radio stations or web sites, even the great ones like WWOZ. It doesn’t come from CDs or downloads, not even from night clubs and music festivals. That’s just how you hear the music.

But where it comes from—is the people who make the music. The genius of New Orleans isn’t its industry, not its business community, certainly not its government. No, the genius of New Orleans is its people. And, Guardians of the Groove, we at WWOZ are dedicated to supporting our community of music makers—the same community that produced Allen Toussaint.

That’s why WWOZ exists. Not just because of our great musicians, but because the next Allen Toussaint is already out there somewhere in the Crescent City, and we want to support the continued renewal of our community. So, as far as I’m concerned, community is king.

You want to see what I’m talking about? 8am tomorrow (Friday, November 20), there’ll be a visitation for Allen Toussaint at the Orpheum Theatre followed by musical performances to benefit New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness. In the afternoon around 1pm, there will be a special presentation at the George and Joyce Wein Heritage Center in honor of arguably our greatest songwriter in the past half-century.

Yours in gravy boats and live remotes,

David Freedman
General Manager

With great sadness we mark the passing of New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, who died at the age of 77 on Monday, November 9 while on tour in Spain. We fondly recall Toussaint as a humble and elegant man and as a supremely talented musician. He influenced countless artists, and the list of musicians who benefitted from Toussaint’s touch as a producer and arranger is lengthy and diverse, including Paul McCartney, Dr. John, Joe Cocker, and Ernie K-Doe. A Visitation and a musical tribute will be held on Friday, November 20, 2015 at the Orpheum Theatre, and we'll be celebrating him throughout the day on the air and online.

» In Memoriam: Allen Toussaint

» Memorial Services

Thanks and praise–so appropriate at this time of year–to each and every person who made our recent Fall Membership Drive one long funky groove. First up, the greatest listeners in the universe: we need your continued support in order to keep on Guarding the Groove! Thanks as well to all the volunteers, musicians, show hosts, food donors, photographers, and everyone else who made this fall's pledge party a huge success. Check out our recap of all the fine entertainment, including staff, volunteers, food and studio performances.

» Fall Membership Drive Thank-Yous

» Fall Membership Drive Photo Highlights

We're excited to introduce a new feature for our listeners: a two-week archive of our programming. All of our regular shows are now available for your streaming pleasure, on-demand for two weeks after their original air date. Want to hear Soul Sister on Sunday morning, or our Monday-Friday Trad Jazz shows on the weekend? Now you can: listen to your favorite WWOZ shows whenever you want.

» Test Drive Our Two-Week On-Demand Archive

This month on WWOZ's weekly syndicated program New Orleans Calling, we’re checking out a group of young musicians as diverse as they are talented–but with one thing in common. They’re all graduates of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, or NOCCA. Trombone Shorty, Sasha Masakowski, Gregory Agid, and Kyle Roussel are all NOCCA alumni, and we hear about how they are pushing boundaries and defying labels as they add their training and spirit to the next generation of New Orleans musicians. Listen to New Orleans Calling on Saturday mornings at 7, or stream episodes anytime.

 » NOCCA Artists on New Orleans Calling

Each week for the past 5 months, our web site has featured a different new release from a talented artist or band currently living in New Orleans. Artists featured recently include The Session, Haruka Kikuchi, Chubby Carrier, Brent Rose, John Ellis & Double-Wide, Christian Scott, The Rotten Cores, & more.

 » Our Latest New Music Spotlights

 » Previous New Music Spotlights

Here's a reprise of one of our favorite recipes, a deceptively simple version of a Louisiana classic. It's Zydeco artist Chubby Carrier's contribution to That Sounds Good!, WWOZ's cookbook of recipes from our Louisiana musical family. The short list of ingredients produces a kind of country comfort food; in the version pictured, we used green onion sausage and added salt and cayenne to taste.

 » Recipe: Chubby Carrier's Creole Chicken in Tomato Sauce