I am a devout New Yorker, but anyone who knows me knows a little part of me belongs to New Orleans. It is my favorite place outside of the five boroughs. The music. The food. The drink. The people. There is no place like it on earth. And when I get down, when I "Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans," I have a temporary cure. WWOZ.
WWOZ is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage station. It is a community station, public radio, that plays all the great music New Orleans has to offer at any given moment. Blues, Jazz, Zydeco, Cajun, Swamp Rock, you name it. Kermit Ruffins, Dirty Dozen, Dr. John, Bonerama, Irma Thomas, Galactic. WWOZ plays it all, big artist or small. And thanks to that handy dandy internet, I can listen to it when ever I want, any time of day.
Listening to WWOZ transports me to The Big Easy. I can imagine myself sitting at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, sipping a bourbon on the rocks, watching the the parade of people stumbling by. And when the DJ starts to run down the concert calendar , listing who is playing Tipitinas, Chickie Wah Wah, Le Bon Temps Roule, The Maple Leaf or, of course, Rock & Bowl I start smiling and get an itch to jump on a plane and make it down in time for the Soul Rebels late set.
If you are a New Orleans fanatic like me, just getting a feel by watching Treme, or don't know the town or it's music at all, WWOZ is a must for you. For the junkie, it will give you the fix you need. For the uninitiated, jump in and get hooked. And when you start to feel that pull, that need to head on down to NOLA, let me know. I'll meet you at Snake and Jake's for an Abita Purple Haze.
Check out WWOZ at wwoz.org
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