WWOZ FM Radio

My musical portal in the current that feeds my soul.
Volunteer supported radio that brings New Orleans Culture to the world via
Diverse well curated programming by passionate experts.
WWOZ is in my will.

It is the ONLY station I listen to.

Besides NPR, the only broadcast radio station I need, or ever listen to. And I don’t even live in New Orleans.
Not everything on their eclectic playlist is my style, but most of it I love. The website is fantastic-​I can decide where to go when I’m down there, or keep up with the music scene from afar (which sometimes makes me want to cry for all that I’m missing). The DJs ooze cool and kicked-​back, just like the city itself. The ‘OZ keeps me in NOLA, even when I’m not.

Awesome people! Super easy to work with and treat you well.
The swamp shop has got some great stuff, and Duane helped me out a lot.

Great music. And thank you for the new bumper sticker! My old car is taking the old one to the car graveyard. The only radio station with such an eclectic range of music that I know of. You always make me smile and dance!

Can’t believe I haven’t mentioned WWOZ!
We started listening on the way back from Baton Route after Katrina and found it streaming online when we got home.
I can’t get enough of this traditional jazz music. It’s my normal station of choice when I’m home.
The best: 24/​7, commercial free, cheerful hosts. Just about any adjectives meaning «great» would apply to this station!

WWOZ is overall an excellent community radio station that serves the New Orleans area. There is really no other place to hear traditional jazz, blues, Brazilian, Irish, bluegrass, reggae and more on one radio dial, and they have really improved their live broadcasts from inside the studio. To locals, they have become such an integral part of the city’s culture that they’re now something of a sacred cow, seemingly immune to any criticism. However, in spite of their generally consistent quality, they remain deficient in one critical area, and I’m giving less than five stars because of my assumption that their leadership will never make any changes to their philosophy.
The biggest knock on WWOZ is that their playlists have remained staunchly traditional, particularly when it comes to New Orleans music, which they proclaim to support above all else. Their New Orleans Music shows– virtually the only thing separating them from satellite radio or even other community FM stations– rotate the same cast of about 50 – 75 of the area’s local artists (a good many of whom are dead or stopped performing years ago) within the city’s jazz, blues, R&B and funk traditions, rarely venturing further out than a handful of roots rock bands. In the process, they routinely ignore a huge swath of the city’s musical landscape, essentially snubbing what I estimate to be 80 percent of the city’s working musical groups, many of whom have strong local followings. To confirm this, just look through the live music calendar for any given date, then search for every artist on WWOZ playlists on their website. Out of the hundred or so acts playing nightly, how many are WWOZ actually playing? A small fraction. And that doesn’t even count the groups who don’t perform in clubs as regularly as others but still have good CDs out. I just don’t think the DJs do a great deal of homework to find out about the more off-​the-​radar acts, or maybe they’re afraid to stray too far from tradition in fear of losing their slot, but the reality is undeniable. In fact, I’d wager to say that if WWOZ had existed when the Meters, Dr. John, James Booker, Snooks Eaglin, and Professor Longhair first started in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, DJs at the station would have deemed them too nontraditional as they continued rotating 1920’s and 30’s swing era music. Now imagine artists in 2015 trying to make it in a city that largely ignores them unless they sound like New Orleans artists from the 1970’s or 80’s or earlier.
The most obvious omission, of course, is the city’s most successful export in recent years, a unique breed of New Orleans’ own hip-​hop and bounce music, of which WWOZ refuses to air even the cleanest versions. Beyond that, there are hundreds of excellent local bands playing their own New Orleans takes on a wide variety of genres from modern and alternative rock to traditional country, jazz-​rock fusion to folk, and many others that are simply never heard on WWOZ as their DJs rotate the same usual suspects over and over again, making their New Orleans Music playlists quite predictable and exclusive. The same can be said of the Jazz and Heritage Festival, but that’s a week-​long live music festival, not a year-​round radio station. Yet because of their longstanding connection to that festival, WWOZ comes off as hesitant to play any local acts who do not perform at Jazz Fest, and certainly those who remain outside the bounds of decades-​old traditions.
Don’t get me wrong. WWOZ is still a great radio station, and it’s commendable the degree of support they do offer to local music. But many cities have great community radio, and in fact stations in places like Austin, San Francisco, Portland, Athens, and more do a better job of giving airplay to their local musicians. So, as evidenced by their self-​proclaimed moniker as «greatest radio station in the universe,» it’s clear they are just not quite as good as they think they are. But if you think you’re the best, why change anything?

Great radio station playing my most favorite music which I cannot get from any other radio station. Glad I can listen to anywhere in the world, including at home in Australia (via their website)!

The best radio station on the planet that is volunteer run and has some of the best music in the world ²⁴⁄₇ with no commercials. Simply the best.

I thought I had reviewed WWOZ!
I love this station and I have found myself listening to it more and more as of late. It just seems like there is nothing else good on non-​satellite radio! They are always playing good music, local and otherwise and the live wire music calendar is a must.
If you aren’t in NOLA, don’t fret, you can listen to WWOZ on their iPod and Android app! They play a lot of good stuff during Mardi Gras, too and that is probably my favorite time of year to tune in.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that my previous review of WWOZ (from 2009) was listed under a business that was CLOSED. Uh, yeah, not really. While the office space/​broadcast location may have moved, you can still find the DJs spinning at 90.7 and on the web. As they have since the mid 70s.
Yes, my Dad’s friend was an early DJ and Jiving Gene retired earlier this year. But those who are gone have been replaced with equally passionate (occasionally kooky) DJs who love their music. If you don’t like the genre that’s playing at the moment, wait a couple of hours until someone else comes up.
Currently, love the Sunday morning Gospel show and the late night Kitchen Sink shows and, of course, DJ Soul Sister on Saturday nights. And I’m always a fan of the drivetime Jazz shows.
Now if I could only find one of those vintage Wizard of OZ t-​shirts, I would be a very happy camper.

Whenever we find ourselves driving towards New Orleans it’s excitin’ times when we’re near enough to tune in. Our chants begin: «Almost there! Almost there!» (We like to chant.)
While I do realize that we live in a day and age where we can (and DO) easily stream the WWOZ’s music through our phones or online any time, this is different; it’s just a little road trip game we like to play. Some people enjoy their lil made up traditions, what can I tell you? And we enjoy this radio station. By the way, the story is conversely depressing when we are leaving town and WWOZ starts to fade out away. Noooo… come baaaaack…
The heritage music that this station plays is the soundtrack to 100% of the time that we spend in the car cruising around the city and down thereabouts. I find so much of the different shows’ music to be pretty perfect for doing just that: unique and so reflective of this great city. There’s great jazz, funk, blues, old-​timey New Orleans style good stuff– whatever they’re playing classic or contemporary; I appreciate the uncommon greatness and the occasional straight up weirdness of it all. Also, how much do I love the LiveWire music rundown read frequently so that you know what music is happening all over town? Yeah, for some reason it really plays into my daydream of New Orleans livin, goin out to see good music all the time… Excuse me while undulating lines connoting dreaminess cartoonishly appear all around me as I stare off into space right now…
WWOZ… Oh, it’s real ol radio-​like from local stations of yore. And music galore.
Yikes, before I start slipping into verse: There aren’t so many quality radio stations left, even remotely like this one, I can only think of maybe a handful across the country that have any true personality. So, you can easily recognize a rare gem of a radio station when you hear one. Appreciate such things! WWOZ is that, a rare gem, nothing like it anywhere: all full of character and eclecticism with true lovin’ enthusiasm for New Orleans music. I’m definitely a fan of that.

There is no other radio station like WWOZ in the world. Whenever I’m feeling homesick for my favorite city, I stream it on-​line or listen to it on my iphone (great free app) and it brings me right back to New Orleans until I can visit again. One of my favorite things about this station is the live and in-​person interviews that are conducted daily. Only in New Orleans do you have this immediacy of culture and music, wherein the musicians just drop by the station for a chat, play a few tunes and plug their upcoming show, usually for that very night. Whether your thing is jazz in all it’s permutations, zydeco, funk, singer-​songwriter, avant garde… whatever music moves you… they’ll be playing it on this station. The Livewire music updates on every odd hour are a wonderful feature, too. «Ya know ya gotta have it, dahlin»!”

I downloaded the free streaming app for WWOZ based on the Unilocal reviews. WIN CITY!
Excellent music with minimal commercials. 5-​stars indeed.
The app is simple and well designed (though I wish they stated what artists were playing)…and it even offers an «alarm clock» app so you can wake every morning to the sounds of NOLA.

Live local music schedules will be read out so you can keep up with what’s going on everyday. Louisiana music, interviews, and stories involving all the musical and cool happenings in the NOLA area. They are the innovators of the Jazz Fest Brass Pass and support and are supported by so many fun fests and events. They don’t always play music I like but they always have something interesting going on. They have internet streaming and I know folks all over the world that listen to this station. This is unlike any other radio station anywhere else and is a unique NOLA treasure.

Who the hell needs programmed satellite radio?
Just tune to 90.7 and you can leave it because you will get great jams that you can groove to and LEARN from… this is an American treasure and produces such a great resource for the world, let alone New Orleans.
you’ve gotta love the LiveWire every odd hour to keep you in the know
subscribe, people

My move to New Orleans for college back in 2006 (should have been 05, but a hurricane got in the way) has awakened a love for many things, but music has been one of the most rewarding. While I’ve always had an appreciation for an «older» generation of music, WWOZ has truly influenced my taste like no other radio station. I will listen to OZ wherever my iPhone and Wifi will permit and as soon as I have sustainable finances I will contribute to its continued legacy.
I’ll never forget hearing Dr. John’s Walk on Gilded Splinters for the first time on OZ and thanking my lucky stars for such a cool radio station.

I have such an odd relationship with WWOZ.
Growing up I had always heard from my parents that I would one day thank them for certain things that I hated. I never would believe such nonsense, but as I have grown up, it bothers me to learn they were right.
WWOZ is one of those things. My dad would always listen to OZ when I was in the car. I couldn’t stand it. While some of the music was OK, I told him I hated it all just to be rebellious. I even once said that Dr. John was a hack.
Fast forward to today and I can’t get enough of this station. Not only am I a huge Dr. John fan, but nearly all of the music this station plays just makes me happy. In fact, I don’t see how anyone can listen to this station and sit still, or not have a giant smile across their face.
WWOZ does survive off of donations, and they even have a Guardian of the Groove license plate you can buy. I urge you to listen and support this truly special new Orleans station.
Note: The reception outside of the city is sketchy, but apparently there is an app for that.

Great music takes life experiences to an exalted level, and WWOZ is a righteous background for cruising through the city, sitting on the porch sipping a refreshing beverage or enjoying a little snug with your love.
It’s the hot sauce on your rice n beans. Doesn’t get better~
Cheers~

Truly the only radio station that matters.
(Aside from NPR), this is the only radio I listen to anymore.
If you don’t live in New Orleans you can stream it online.