Ted Riederer curates Never Records through November 4 (photo Jonathan Ferrara)

“I’m just trying to really come into New Orleans and make people miss me when I leave,” echoes Ted Riederer in this week’s episode of OffBeat’s Look-Ka Py Py Podcast as he etches grooves onto a sheet of hot wax with a record cutting lathe in a studio on Carondelet Street. Part audiophile and part recording engineer, Riederer curates Never Records, a project that is far more than part record store, part art installation. Specifically because Riederer’s mission is far greater and his passion, more precious: recording history and preserving sounds of all sorts (irrespective of art from, wave form or frequency) into circular vinyl discs.

With Never Records, Riederer welcomes anyone with anything to sing, say, play or synthesize into his shop for a session. Shortly after, sans studio wizardry, he shapes his handiwork into a set of records: one for his subject, the other for his story. The concept has served him well, as has Never Records, which he’s shown in Liverpool, London and Cary (Northern Ireland). Recently, through a grant from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage foundation (in addition to other grants and donations), Riederer was able to take his project to the source of America’s most storied musical city.

Though his sessions filled up quickly, as you’ll quickly find out, the sounds he’s captured while in New Orleans speak volumes about the city he’s inhabited. Just how loudly, history will determine.
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