How much music is gone?
 

I caught part of a little NPR spot talking to a guy about what he'd lost in the flooding in NO. He had a huge music library, he now has 2 cds. I wonder how much irreplaceable music was lost in the flooding? :( Its a strange thing to focus on with the loss of life and since old recordings are disappearing slowly and surely anyway but there is always hope that someone will record these things on a new format.

I don't think its odd to wonder about the music at all. Music is part of our spirit and soul. Music is about the things that keep us going in this life. Its what makes us different from the dog who just howls at the moon. Human beings sing the blues and New Orleans was a wonderful center for jazz and blues - a part of our country's unique American culture.

When I lost everything I had, one of my greatest griefs was the loss of my vinyl records - albums that I had collected over 30 years that were irreplaceable. I'm sure we have lost some of the melody of New Orleans. I hope we find it again soon.

When I was a lad at Southwest Missouri State, there was a project going on to record and collect the folk tales and folk songs from the backwoods folk. The idea being that the oldsters were dying off and their younger kin had no interest - so this project was collecting it before it was gone forever.

I know that there are a lot of early jazz and blues recordings available. I suspect the best stuff has already been preserved.

I was lucky enough to see Gatemouth play at the old Antone's in Austin, before he got too sick. Crazy fun. He was amazing, bless him.

That is a bummer.