I'm going with friends to see the Preservation Hall Jazz Band here in July at a new venue called "Anthology." I haven't been in New Orleans in years, but did have a conversation a couple of years back with Jim Cullum, who has a "hot jazz" combo at his nightclub in San Antonio on the Riverwalk. He was lamenting the state of music in New Orleans at the time. A lot of the old-timers were gone and he wasn't seeing the same passion for the old music there. Maybe that's outdated news since the hurricane and recovery efforts. I hope so.

Cullum does have a great band which has long been featured on public radio as "Live, From the Landing" or "Riverwalk Jazz." The great thing about the program is that you get the history along with the music and a lot of old-time performers to give some flavor of what it must have been like in the heyday of traditional jazz.

If you like performers such as Jack Teagarden, Muggsy Spanier, Bix Beiderbecke or Kid Ory, et al, you'll like this.