Wavelength
- Place of Publication: New Orleans, LA
- Language: English
- Date of Publication: 1980-1991
- Periodicity: Monthly
- Editor: Connie Zeanah Atkinson
- Publishers: Patrick Berry et al.
- Type: Full Text
Wavelength was effectively a chronicle of music in New Orleans through the 1980s. Published by Patrick Berry and edited by Connie Atkinson, a total of 133 issues appeared from November 1980 to November 1991. Covering the whole of New Orleans music – jazz, rock, blues, zydeco, rhythm and blues, punk, Caribbean, reggae, Afrobeat, classical, psychedelia, and more – Wavelength was part journal, part zine, part performance directory, but completely reflective of the incredible diversity and heritage of music and music making in the Crescent City.
Wavelength began as a circular for Patrick Berry’s record shop, Leisure Landing, located on Magazine Street. As noted by Atkinson in the ten-year anniversary column (November 1990), the 1980s were a period of “evolution and revolution” where New Orleans music and musicians figured large, locally and nationally. [No. 121, p. 46] Musicians profiled crossed genres and included touring musicians and acts performing in New Orleans. Of particular focus was the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival which presented large numbers of performances and drew a significant, international audience.
Wavelength maintained a large roster of writers and critics, including Almost Slim (pen name of Jeff Hannusch), Gene Scaramuzzo, Bunny Mathews, Macon Fry, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Rick Coleman, James Lien, John Newlin, Keith Twitchell, Eric Bookhardt, among many others. Although issues contained significant amounts of advertising, Wavelength ran into financial difficulties. It was effectively superseded by Offbeat which publishes to this day.