In January, after looking over the lineup for this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was laden with rock and pop, I wrote: More than five years after Katrina, with the city recovering but much of it still resembling a post-war nightmare, a party called a jazz festival symbolizes New Orleans’ determination to recover. That speaks of a spirit that rises from within New Orleanians and cuts through a malaise of failed leadership, politics and bureaucracy. For eight … [Read more...]

A Rifftides archive browser who identifies himself only as Hank wrote to take me to task: I feel certain you are friends with Miller Williams. My main comment is that if you are going to publish online his poetry, it seems you would want to get it right. There are numerous errors in the poem I found on this site, from formatting to punctuation to capitalization. Not meaning to get on your case about this, but I did notice it. I send this respectfully. Over the past six … [Read more...]

Lately, readers have asked how to sign up for Rifftides RSS feeds and be notified of new posts and comments. On the right side of the blue bar at the top of the screen, you will see a pair of symbols like this. Click on the one next to "Posts" or the one next to "Comments," or both, and then click on "Subscribe." Voila! … [Read more...]