ADVERTISING MUSIC This is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “Pick Your?”.—Ed. Right on about increasing Louisiana tourism by advertising our music! We play many festivals, performing arts centers, concert series, etc. At every show, we pause at one point and ask the audience, “Who here is from Louisiana?” Then we ask, “Who has [...]
June 2011 Letters
CULTURE ON A PEDESTAL I am a native Louisianan who grew up in Baton Rouge and Hammond and I’m an avid music lover (especially any music with roots in Louisiana). After moving to Atlanta to attend college, I moved to Washington, D.C. to begin working at the U.S. Department of Labor. I recently returned home [...]
May 2011 Letters
NOT AN ACCORDION Thank you for the review of my new CD On the Street. It captures what the band sounds like on the recording and what we are trying to achieve in general. I want to clear up a couple of mistakes. On “Louis Collins,” that is not an accordion—it’s Andy Forest’s soulful harmonica [...]
April 2011 Letters
SMOKE FREE Although I’m thrilled with the new movement in town to ban smoking at more clubs (“A Breath of Fresh Air”—February 2011) and enjoyed the article about this in OffBeat, I take issue with the statement that “While the decision to go smoke-free doesn’t necessarily make a profit….” Simply stated, there are many people [...]
February 2011 Letters
WALTER PAYTON Regarding the letter from Barry Wratten published in the January 2011 issue. The correct name of the city is Bonn. I remember the N.O.R.O. concert very well. Not only because I was the organizer, but also for the following: the band played the city’s Market Place in front of a movie theater, showing [...]
January 2011 Letters
KID ORY The Kid Ory article in December’s issue features major factual errors. The caption to the main photo with the piece is identified as “Louis Armstrong’s band,” featuring Kid Ory on trombone. It is in fact a picture of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band with Honore Dutry on trombone. The story also incorrectly names [...]
December 2010 Letters
TALES OF THE OFFBEAT As a fan of old pulps and EC Comics, I am quite captivated by the cover of your Halloween issue. Great job. —Randy Haecker, New York, NY Congrats on the November cover “Tales of the OffBeat.” It looks great. Every time I pass one, it catches my eye. You guys did [...]
November 2010 Letters
NOT JUST MUSIC Just a note to tell you how much I enjoyed the current issue. I think that there has been a subtle transformation at OffBeat to include all aspects of New Orleans culture, not just music. The piece on Susan Spicer was first rate. —Bob Porter, Bergenfield, NJ RAISON D’ETRE There are many [...]
October 2010 Letters
SCHOOLED BY NEW ORLEANS Great article on the great soul known as Ed Blackwell. I first heard Blackwell play in New York City in the late ’70s and not knowing his background, my first thought was that he sounded like a “Caribbean street parade.” It wasn’t until 25 years later when I finally got to [...]
