WWOZ 90.7WWOZ 90.7

WWOZ went on air on 4 December 1980, four years after brothers Jerry and Walter Brock — who had found community radio in Texas and moved to New Orleans to try it here — set up a foundation to build one for the city. Its first studio was the beer storage room above Tipitina's, where a DJ could drop a microphone through the floorboards and put the band playing downstairs straight on the air. It moved to Louis Armstrong Park in 1984 and into the French Market building after Katrina.

Programming is volunteer-built and stays close to the city: brass bands, second line, jazz, blues, gospel, Cajun and zydeco, hosted by people who grew up inside those traditions rather than researching them. The station carries live broadcasts and covers Jazz Fest each year, and it is listener-supported, which is why none of it has been formatted into a rotation.