WWOZ 90.7 FM New Orleans

08/17/2025

6 months till Mardi Gras!!!

📷 Under the bridge, Mardi Gras Day 2025, by MJ Mastrogiovanni

08/15/2025

An oral history of the Nite Cap with Roland Doucette and Big Chief Alfred Doucette is now online at https://youtu.be/_EQLIm7UuVU?si=8ohZ2luWgUf7gkK_!

This conversation goes deep: you'll learn about Alfred's record as a drag racer, Roland's stint as a back-up singer for King Floyd, how David Ruffin ran the streets before his performance at the club, and, if you stay till the end, an account of Rusty, the dog who used the urinal in the Nite Cap men's room, ate only Church's chicken, and escorted patrons home after shows.

Learn more on A Closer Walk: Interactive New Orleans Music History Map at acloserwalknola.com/places/the-nite-cap!

Roland and Alfred Doucette, who operated the Nite Cap with their brother Sterling in the 1970s, with David Kunian and Jordan Hirsch in April 2025.0:54 Drag r...

08/14/2025

"No one has ever associated me with being an angel, but now I am a Guardian Angel to the best radio station on Earth!" - Aimee, Kouts, IN

Please join Aimee and ‘Ozillians from around the world who have stepped up to help bridge the $400,000 gap due to the revocation of our federal funding at tinyurl.com/wwozguardianangel. 🪽

08/13/2025

McDonogh No. 6, an elementary school in the 13th Ward, employed at least two legendary music educators. In the 1940s, Solomon Spencer taught the great drummer Idris Muhammad here, when the latter was still named Leo Morris.

Spencer, a veteran of William Houston's orchestra, later joined the staff at Lincoln Beach, where he booked live entertainment, and became the band director at Cohen High School.

Then, in the 1950s, clarinetist and composer Alvin Batiste taught at No. 6 before going on to a storied career as an educator at Southern University.

Also of note: Black Masking Indian patriarch Donald Harrison, Sr. lived on the school grounds when he started masking as a teenager (his father was the school's custodian at the time).

A Closer Walk: Interactive New Orleans Music History Map would like to learn more about musicians who went to McDonogh No. 6, and the people who taught them. If you know of anyone else who was affiliated with this school, shoot them a message!

Learn more about the history of music education in New Orleans at acloserwalknola.com/historical-context/music-education-in-new-orleans!

📷 by Nancy Ewing Miner, courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection

08/12/2025

The Guelaguetza, also known as Lunes del cerro ("Mondays on the hill"), celebrates Oaxaca’s regional indigenous cultures, representing sixteen different groups, including Zapotec, Mixtec, Mixe, Chinanteco, and Mazateco, as well as the African-Mexican community. The festival's origins are a dedication to Centeótl, the Mexica god of corn. The festival retained that early influence as it developed into a Roman Catholic celebration of the Virgin del Carmen. This footage was captured in late July 2025.

08/12/2025

Be An Angel Among Us!

Since learning of the revocation of WWOZ'S federal funding of $400,000, we have received 1025 donations totalling $260,000. These gifts have come from Guardian Angels of the Groove around the United States, Norway, British Columbia, New Zealand, London, Canada, Guam, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Scotland, Japan, France, and Cyprus!

Thank you to everyone who supports WWOZ. We appreciate you!

Please consider making a donation now to help us bridge this funding gap now at tinyurl.com/wwozguardianangel.


We have received so many wonderful notes with these generous donations. We wanted to share a few more with you:

"WWOZ sends the spirit of New Orleans around the world and the world is a better place for it!" -Bob, Mount Juliet, TN

"WWOZ is life! Yeah You Rite!" -Chuck, Los Angeles

"Because WWOZ is my way to remember that there is somewhere on Earth, such a wonderful place, where music matters!" -Louise, Paris, France

"WWOZ is my lifeline." - Jean, Pineville, Louisiana

"I lost my home in the Palisades fire but WWOZ has seen me through." -Nancy, Marina del Ray, California

Please support WWOZ with your contribution at tinyurl.com/wwozguardianangel. Thank you for helping us Guard the Groove!

08/11/2025

"They're very relaxed about the jazz, but probably they'd be up for anything - maybe a bit of Ozzy Osbourne," the farmer said.

Farmer Charles Goadby said playing music to cows helps them relax and produce a faster milk flow.

08/11/2025

🚨🌴 We have less than 30 tickets left for the WWOZ Groove Gala! Join us for an unforgettable evening one month from today at wwoz.org/groovegala!

🎷 This is a fun indoor, air-conditioned festival-style benefit for WWOZ, held at Tableau and Le Petit Theatre, in the heart of the French Quarter!

🎶 Featuring live performances from:

• Irma Thomas
• Cyril Neville
• New Orleans Nightcrawlers
• James Andrews & the Crescent City All Stars
• Doreen Ketchens
• Al “Lil Fats” Jackson
• The New Orleans Catahoulas
• DJ Neil Pellegrin (during our dessert + dance party!)

🍽️ Gourmet food by Dickie Brennan & Co.

🍹 Three open bars (+ Mango Freeze!)

🎟️ Tickets are limited! Grab yours now at wwoz.org/groovegala!

08/08/2025

WWOZ Friday morning team up early working on our Guardian Angels of the Groove Campaign! Join us at tinyurl.com/wwozguardianangel!

08/07/2025

The New Orleans Music Education Collaborative is hosting a Back To School Jam at the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center on Saturday, August 9, 10am-2pm! Prospective students and families have the opportunity to explore and enroll in various afterschool music education options from more than a half a dozen no- and low-cost programs! RSVP at jazzandheritagefoundation.wufoo.com/forms/r1t7mksz1504a72.

Participating music education programs include the Heritage School of Music, Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, Trombone Shorty Foundation, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestras, Roots of Music, and more. Each organization will have their own space where they can interact with potential students and families in order to answer any questions about their programs.

08/07/2025

"I didn't bring a set of luggage for more than two or three days. Every single year, those who go to Juilliard know with the music program, there's a real audition. You have to re-audition to get back in. Some folks re-audition and they're not let back in. There's a very small chance that you can make it in to begin with, but then the rigor of doing what we call a jury audition keeps up the whole four years you're there. For me to get back into school, I had to audition.

"This was the end of August. We start the semester in September. I wasn't ready. And I had to do my audition for Juilliard for my second year. Over the phone. In the lobby of the hotel. On the piano that was in the lobby.

"I do my audition over the phone. I get in. I go from Texas up to New York for the semester with the clothes that I have on my back. I left my family behind. They encouraged me to go. I didn't want to go, but they said you got to go. You've got to finish your school, and we'll be all right. Everybody's accounted for. Go ahead.

"So that audition to Juilliard was in the wake of Katrina, over the phone from the hotel lobby piano."

The award-winning artist had to evacuate from New Orleans and watch terror unfold on his hometown from a hotel room. But Jon Batiste also had a very important audition and no time to prepare. He shares his never-before-told Katrina story with Times-Picayune columnist Will Sutton.

08/07/2025

We're live with Russell Welch and his band in the Gia Maione Prima Foundation Studio at WWOZ! Let us know where you're watching from in the comments 💜