During the late 1990s, writes Keith Spera of the Times-Picayune, "Frenchmen Street was still considered an exotic destination, even as it yielded a plethora of ambitious, genre-bending bands. Among the most incendiary was Iris May Tango", a group that "hit with a full-body ... Read more

August 29 2013 -- 23:36 Harry Shearer and Judith Owens talk with WWOZ's David Torkanowsky on August 29, 2013, the eighth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent Federal Flood. Read more

Listen to NPR’s “The Untold Story of Bobby Charles” What started with the lofty goal to write a song for Fats, the Louisiana native Bobby Charles would leave a bump in the musical path--whether he wanted to or not. His music lingers, unnoticed under his own name, but it den... Read more

On any given night in New Orleans, you’re likely to find a place with live music and free food. Sometimes it’s red beans and trad jazz, other times it’s BBQ and the blues. On this week’s program, it’s curry and the Pocket brass of Magnetic Ear, an ensemble headed by Martin K... Read more

In this red hot clip from two decades ago, the Soul Queen of New Orleans rips through "You Can Have My Husband" with B.B. King, from the latter's Blues Summit, which also included appearances by Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Albert Collins, & more.     Read more

Greetings, WWOZ listeners and family. To all here at home in New Orleans on Friday, September 13, I'd like to invite you to my big birthday jam, the 7th annual one I've done at the legendary Tipitina's. Everyone is invited. Details below and also at the following link. With... Read more

So named because bloody marys helped generate the idea, Bloody Sunday Sessions is "a web-based video series of stripped down musical performances occurring in the back of the iconic New Orleans’ mule-drawn carriages." In this edition, Luke Winslow-King and his band bring the... Read more

The Mystic Knights of the Mau Mau present the 11th Ponderosa Stomp a month henceforth, October 4-5 at the Rock'n'Bowl. Get a taste of who's playing with a "musical preview" video, which does a nifty job of conveying the feel of the event. Read more

In the late 1950s and 1960s, Mahalia Jackson was not only renowned as a gospel singer; she achieved a surprising (from our vantage point) mainstream fame. She was "the main attraction in the first gospel music showcase at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957," and at the 1963 ... Read more