Tonight, we open the show with Blue Lu Barker, followed Joe King Oliver, Kid Ory, and Louis Armstrong. In Set #2 it’s Dave Bartholomew, Huey Piano Smith, The Hawketts, James Booker, Dr. Michael White and Allen Toussaint. Set #3: Leroy Jones, Burris, and Kermit Ruffins. Listen

Opening tonight’s show-- Joe King Oliver, followed by Danny Barker, Louis Armstrong, and Pete Fountain. In Set #2 it’s Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, Johnny Adams, and Dr. John. Set #3: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Ledisi with the Christian McBride Big Band, Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, and Cubanismo! Listen

Happy New Year!    

For one hour each week for the past five years, starting in 2021, we’ve discovered, listened to, and learned about New Orleans-born or near New Orleans-born artists and a wide variety of music genres. 

There is absolutely no other city in the world that has produced more musicians-- jazz, blues, R&B, Rock n’ Roll, and that has and continues to have more influence on music than New Orleans, bar none. 

Over the past 5 years, I’ve stayed true, with a couple of exceptions, to only feature New Orleans-born or near New Orleans-born artists on the NORMS. Those exceptions were for Jazz Fest shows and a couple of other specialty shows. The reason we can stay so true to our New Orleans-born or near New Orleans-born artists, well, there are so, so many. 

Tonight, an accounting of sorts, we attempt to share the long list of New Orleans-born or near New Orleans-born artists that have been and will continue to be featured on the NORMS. 

The music featured on the show in Set #1 includes the Original Dixieland Jass Band, Joe King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, and Louis Armstrong. In Set #2 it’s Fats Domino, James Sugarboy Crawford, Earl King, The Meters, Irma Thomas, and Professor Longhair. Set #3: Ellis Marsalis Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., and Donald Harrison, Jr. Listen

Tonight is our pre-New Year’s Eve Show! Opening the show: Oscar Papa Celestin, followed by Lizzy Miles, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, and then again, Louis Armstrong. Set #2 features Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Walter Wolfman Washington, Johnny Adams, and Leigh Harris. Set #3: The Rebirth Brass Band, Wynton Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, and Ledisi. Listen

Opening the show tonight, two early, early, and mean early Jazz ensembles, The Original Dixieland Jass Band and A.J. Piron’s New Orleans Orchestra, followed by Lionel Ferbos, and Louis Armstrong. In Set #2, it’s Al Hirt, Lloyd Price, Earl King, Allen Toussaint, and Irma Thomas. Set #3: Ellis Marsalis, Donald Harrison Jr., Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and Erica Falls. Listen

On World Cities Day 2025, observed on 31 Oct 2025, UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) designated 58 cities as new members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), including New Orleans. 

New Orleans has officially been recognized as a UNESCO Creative City of Music, a distinction that honors its profound cultural legacy and far-reaching impact on global sound—from jazz and blues to bounce and rock and roll.

For New Orleans, the designation ensures that its unmistakable rhythm—its sound, soul, and spirit—will continue to resonate with future generations around the world.

On tonight’s show Ernest Punch Miller, Sweet Emma Barrett, Bunk Johnson, Jelly Roll Morton, Geroge Lewis, AND Louis Armstrong. Set #2 is dedicated to Marcia Ball and in Set #3: PJ Morton and Jon Batiste. Listen 

Tonight’s show is all about the Zydeco. Honoring the Festival de Musique Acadienne A Creole, the annual three-day FREE Cajun and Zydeco music festival, in Lafayette, LA with a select group of artists that performed or were honoring at this year’s fest, starting with Zachary Richard, followed by Wayne Toups, CJ Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band, Kevin Naquin & the Ossun Playboys, and Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys. Then it’s a brief tribute to CJ Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco, then it’s on to Corey Ledet Zydeco, Lil’ Nathan & The Zydeco Big Timers, Cedric Watson et Bijou Créole, and Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie closes the show. Listen

On tonight’s show a playlist that captures and reflects on the City of New Orleans, and the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina, then moves on to celebrate the city and along the way I’ll share with you a little of what I was both reminded and learned about the storm, twenty years after the storm; it’s impact, the, still ongoing recovery, and where New Orleans is today. Artists include: Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr., Dr. John, Elis Costello and Allen Toussaint, Louis Armstrong, Delfeayo Marsalis, The Soul Rebels, and Lil Queenie and the Percolators. Listen

 Tonight, it’s The Marsalis’ . . . again, a rebroadcast  from 7 July 2025.  Father Ellis, and sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason, a taste of each of their genius, starting with Father Ellis, the patriate of this incredibly talented musical family. The Marsalis family, together and individually, has made significant contributions to the preservation of jazz, the furthering of the art form, and the education of students of the music, leaving an important and distinctive mark on the world of jazz and this nation’s culture. Listen

New Dong Old

Originally Broadcast on 19 August 2024. 

Tonight, something we’ve done a couple of times on past shows, feature New Orleans-born modern contemporary jazz artists performing early traditional jazz songs, some standards, and all classics . . . featuring Allen Toussaint, Dr. Michael White, Wynton Marsalis, Kermit Ruffins, The Olympia Brass Band featuring Donald Harrison Jr. and Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Dr. John, Trombone Shorty, Branford and Ellis Marsalis. Listen