We’re all devastated by the tragedy suffered in New Orleans. We all want to help. And that is the amazing thing about radio…we can help and we can react quickly. Speed is our strength and time is our enemy. In this piece we see a bit of both.
Essentially a laser drop show to encourage contributions to help survivors (can we make it a rule not to call them Victims?) It’s sincere, concerned and conveys a sense of urgency. The music is historical, recordings that I have to be impressed by the ability to get them all in one place. I am sure when this show was first aired, it captured the emotional state of many folks and succeeded in creating action to support the relief efforts.
But time is not on this piece’s side. It’s a few months later, the situation in New Orleans evolved and we’re confronted with a different set of circumstances. The call for contributions is not as urgent, and the sincerity of this piece now comes off a bit over the top. The historical nature of the recordings now seem a bit confined…after all, New Orleans music is a wide and long list. This piece now seems like n the producer pulling out their own deep, and significant, collection, rather than a concerted effort to bring all of New Orleans music to life.
So I think this piece has passed it’s life span, but could be recreated into a more evergreen show about the early days of New Orleans Jazz, Dixie Land and Blues. The production values of the show are great, no surprise, WXXI is a leading station in the system.
Review of Missing New Orleans: Popular Music Remembers a City
Steve Yasko
Posted on November 25, 2005 at 03:31 AM
We’re all devastated by the tragedy suffered in New Orleans. We all want to help. And that is the amazing thing about radio…we can help and we can react quickly. Speed is our strength and time is our enemy. In this piece we see a bit of both.
Essentially a laser drop show to encourage contributions to help survivors (can we make it a rule not to call them Victims?) It’s sincere, concerned and conveys a sense of urgency. The music is historical, recordings that I have to be impressed by the ability to get them all in one place. I am sure when this show was first aired, it captured the emotional state of many folks and succeeded in creating action to support the relief efforts.
But time is not on this piece’s side. It’s a few months later, the situation in New Orleans evolved and we’re confronted with a different set of circumstances. The call for contributions is not as urgent, and the sincerity of this piece now comes off a bit over the top. The historical nature of the recordings now seem a bit confined…after all, New Orleans music is a wide and long list. This piece now seems like n the producer pulling out their own deep, and significant, collection, rather than a concerted effort to bring all of New Orleans music to life.
So I think this piece has passed it’s life span, but could be recreated into a more evergreen show about the early days of New Orleans Jazz, Dixie Land and Blues. The production values of the show are great, no surprise, WXXI is a leading station in the system.