Big Easy in a Box
This box of New Orleans music is the essence of the mossy City that Care Forgot. Each song reveals a particular characteristic of the city and her distinctive sound; quirky, high-spirited and strong. Wish amazon did oyster poor boys.

Really great but could be made better with very little effort
This is a great collection that could be improved through a few substitutions (I would have chosen Johnny Adams' "Reconsider Me" and Irma Thomas'"I Done Gone Over It", instead of the ones The Shout Factory made) but that's nitpicking. It's a great collection, it sounds great and a wide range of New Orleans music is represented. Well done.

No LA at her best!
This is a complilation of New Orleans best at their best. I am a New Orleans native living in Colorado and this anthology made me home sick! This is a wonderful collector's item and I recommend it to everyone. Enjoy New Orleans' very own Doctor's Professors, Kings and Queens.

Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans
A great mix of new and old music from the big easy. The booklet gives a lot of information other than the music.

A BIG O'L BOX THAT'S LOT'S A FUN!
As an Aussie my exposure to New Orleans music has been limited to Fats Domino, Little Richard, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Neville Brothers and the Rhino Records "History Of New Orleans R & B" 3 volume LP set. I've had my eye on this for quite a while and only acquired it yesterday. The feeling I get from it is a sense of fun in the music. It is both joyous & brassy, Deep and meaningful with a total abandon of enjoyment thrown in. The rich musical history supplied here is all the more poignant after Hurricane Katrina and the musical legacy of New Orleans should never be forgotten.

The programmming is a tad idiosyncratic as we tend to leap back and forward track by track (eg. we have The Hawketts "Mardi Gras Mambo" followed by Ragtime Jazz followed by Modern Blues). Maybe a bit jarring as I prefer "historical overviews" to be chronological in running order. However upon reflection the effect this track running order has is to perhaps illustrate the diversity of the music that emanates out of New Orleans. So this may not be meant to be as much an overview but more so a rich sampling of the New Orleans vibe. However it would have been nice to follow the development of the music over the time spans from jazz to Zydeco etc provided here but that's just my preference. The other thing though is the set seems to be a little top heavy with recent 1990's recordings as opposed to earlier material, notably missing anything by Larry Williams who had hits on Specialty including Bony Moronie & Slow Down.
However those things aside the set is a 5 & 1/2 hour gumbo of the myriad styles that flowed out of New Orleans and is an enjoyable listening experience. I'm glad to have it and I think such a set is essential to any worthwhile music library. Come taste the music!!