HumidCity

WWOZ PLedge Drive Photo Album (This will continually grow until the end of the Pledge Drive at 7pm on 3-28-07)

Groovesect is in the house! Man, there is nothing like coming into the studio and having a live show going on, the energy in the room is positively electric!
The next to last day of the drive is upon us, 7pm tomorrow is the end so get your pledge on! These funky, funky sounds that make you get up and shake your groove thang need your assistance in order to keep rolling out across the airwaves and the internet. If you have any doubts about the importance just tune your radio to 90.7fm (or grab the stream here) and listen for awhile and they will be dispelled!

One of the really great things about working here over the drive has been getting back in touch with musicians I have had the honor of working with in the past. Right now Govt Majik is tuning up to play their own brand of afro-caribbean funk, and it turns out I know the bass player from back in the old ShopweRx / Silver Machine days: Bru Brusser of the Hi Life Rescue Dance Band!! I haven’t heard this new band, but having worked shows with Bru back in the late 90’s I have high expectations for the upcoming throwdown!

EDIT: As T.R. keeps saying its “listener supported, listener supported, listener suported!!“

Hey out there in interweb land, Loki here, reporting the latest from the musical free for all that is the WWOZ Pledge Drive! Brian Stoltz was here earlier knocking out some really sweet tunes solo on his acoustic guitar. When I was speaking with him afterwards he told me that his new live CD will be hitting the stores about a week before Jazz Fest, and after hearing some tracks from it today I must say I cannot wait!

There are only three days left, and things are about to get truly out of hand. The array of musicians showing up to bring a little live music into the equation is always amazing during the drive, and the last few days are always the most intense. Over the past few days we have seen local luminaries such as Irma Thomas, Harold Batiste, and more show up in support of WWOZ. I really cannot think of any other example of a radio station being so inextricably entwined with the music scene it embraces.

The image that always comes to mind when I think about what WWOZ means to me and to the music scene is borne of the madness from August ‘05. I visualize a vast expanse of toxic floodwaters, like the ones that inundated our city. Rising up from the middle of this turgid pool rises an arm whose hand clutches a trumpet, holding it aloft above the murk.

With more than half our neighbors and native musicians scattered to the four winds the WWOZ Stream assumes huge importance, bringing a taste of home to those in that diaspora and beyond. As we fight for our survival here in New Orleans, WWOZ holds aloft the beacon of our unique musical heritage, reminding us what we are fighting for.

Harold Cagler just got finished bringing a little of the classic New Orleans funk to the studio, and welcome sounds they were! It is truly things like this that keep me going!

Pledge now, keep WWOZ on the air and on the internet!

xposted on Defend New Orleans