GREAT CD BUT NO BOOTH
Thank you for the 2006 OffBeat CD sampler. You compiled a great CD with a nice overview of the New Orleans music scene A.K. (after Katrina). Will the 2007 CD arrive before January 1, 2008?
I missed the OffBeat booth on the festival grounds at this year’s Jazz Fest, so we couldn’t shake hands. A pity!
I must say that I really enjoyed my first post-Katrina Jazz Fest and New Orleans itself. I got the impression that the Storm and its aftermath has woken up the people that stayed, the town is buzzing with new-found-energy despite, or maybe because of, all the hardship.
—Jules Deprez Lekanne, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
We are working on the 2007 CD and hopefully it will be released by January 2008.
The Jazz Fest didn’t offer OffBeat a booth this year, we hope that it will reconsider for the 2008 event.—ED
ONLY THE TRUTH
John Swenson’s Halloween fable was one of the best moments of truth about New Orleans music that I’ve ever seen in print anywhere. Why did you choose to put a “Just Joking” sign on the piece? That’s no joke. The Swiftian premise aside, it was TRUTH.
How about more of this sort of thing?
There’s no jazz, there’s no blues, there’s only the truth…
—Mark Bingham, New Orleans, LA
SOULFUL AND MOVING
Just a short note to thank you [Jan Ramsey] for keeping on with OffBeat. It means a lot to us out here in the world outside New Orleans when the magazine shows up in the mail every month. I found Michael Hurtt’s piece about Willie Tee and Ricky Windhorst’s letter about Snug Harbor in the last issue particularly soulful and moving.
—Joseph Blake Victoria, BC Canada
REACHING MANY PEOPLE
I am still out traveling with the Solid Blues Show. Everything is going about as great as you would think it would traveling with Charlie Musselwhite, Mavis Staples and the North Mississippi All-Stars.
I’ve been following “The Weekly Beat” and OffBeat and I wanted to thank you for listing the tour dates. I had some fans come over to me at the end of the night last night. They told me they traveled two hours to come see me play last night. They found out via OffBeat. They didn’t even know about the other artists.
OffBeat reaches so many people in so many places. Thanks for the coverage. It really does help!
—Joe Krown, New Orleans, LA
OFFBEAT MUSIC CLUB
I’d like to thank you [Jan Ramsey] and your staff at OffBeat for all the work you do and all the pleasure you bring to those of us forced by circumstance to live in other parts of the world. For all that you have accomplished, and all that you have endured, to make OffBeat happen you will always have a special place in our hearts and minds.
After completing “The Weekly Beat” survey, something occurred to me that I have had in the back of my mind for some time. One of the great benefits derived from OffBeat is continual update on newly recorded or released music. Fortunately, there seems to be a vibrant continuation of the grand New Orleans tradition of all types of great music being created; unfortunately, it is hard to know what to buy on a limited budget. It seems to me that that it would be an interesting idea if OffBeat created or coordinated a subscription service music club where interested people could pay a monthly fee and receive one or two CDs a month in a specified category, either chosen by your staff or in collaboration with, for instance, Louisiana Music Factory. The profits could be split to support any of the local endeavors currently available for local musicians, as well as the labels and the artists.
Just an idea, but I know I’d love receiving a couple of new CDs every month. Anyway, thanks again for all that you do and all the best to you and OffBeat.
—Lane Anderson, St. Mary’s City, MD
