Piano Night Happens April 29

WWOZ Piano Night happens at the House of Blues New Orleans on May 1, the Monday night between Jazz Fest weekends. This year we'll have five-and-a-half hours of piano music on the Music Hall main stage, with a line up that includes Bill Payne of Little Feat, Marcia Ball, Jon Cleary, Kyle Roussel, Al 'Lil Fats' Jackson, Keiko Komaki, Lilli Lewis, Terence Simien with Danny Williams, Joe Krown, Tom McDermott, John Gros, Josh Paxton, Tom Worrell, Victor Campbell, Shea Pierre, Mari Watanabe, Oscar Rossignoli and more to come!

» Join us for Piano Night!

Jazz Fest 2024 Lineup

The 2024 edition of the world's best music fest happens April 25-May 5. Browse the hundreds of amazing performers at the link below. Among those receiving musical tributes this year: Tina Turner (from Adonis Rose & NOJO with Erica Falls & Grace Gibson); Al Hirt (Wendell Brunious, Doyle Cooper, and Kevin Ray Clark); and Russell Batiste (by the Batiste Brothers). Get lineups for both weekends. And if you haven't already, get a brass pass and we'll see you in the tent!

» Jazz Fest 2024 Lineup

» Get a Brass Pass for Jazz Fest 2024

Spring Membership Drive, March 7-15

WWOZ needs your support in order to keep the stream of New Orleans groove flowing throughout the galaxy! Please join during our Guardians of the Groove Fall Membership Drive, which happens March 7-15. Our current member gifts, feature vibrant tie-dye designs. So power up the device of your choice, tune in, and help us Guard the Groove.

» Beat the rush & join now!

Chanteuse: Celebrating New Orleans Women in Music

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is proud to announce the 2024 edition of Chanteuse: Celebrating New Orleans Women in Music, a concert series featuring outstanding women vocalists. Shows happen on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm during the first three weekends in March. The lineup: Susan Cowsill (3/1), Mikayla Braun (3/2), Margie Perez (3/8), Dawn Richard (3/9), Anna Moss (3/15), and Tarriona Ball Poetry (3/16). If you can't make it in person, join us remotely: see the Chanteuse shows on WWOZ's Facebook page and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation's YouTube channel.

» More Chanteuse details and links

Photos: Mardi Gras in Church Point, LA

WWOZ volunteer photographer Michael Mastrogiovanni was at Courir des Les Malfecteurs in Church Point, Louisiana on Saturday, January 27, 2024! The traditional courir—the French word for run—is led by the capitaine followed by costumed and masked participants on horseback, foot, or trailer. They make their pilgrimage, singing and dancing to collect ingredients to make a communal gumbo, the highlight being the chicken that is chased and caught.

» Courir des Les Malfecteurs photos

» More Mardi Gras Photos and Video.

Carnival Time Profiles: Gerald French & Missy Bowen

This month, we have a special double Carnival-inspired edition of Volunteer Profile! To Gerald French, leader of the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band and host of our Friday Traditional Jazz show (9-11am), Mardi Gras means family, always has and still does. "My aunt Georgia loved the parades. She'd take us kids out to them all. We'd come back and there'd be food, fried chicken and red beans and everything else, and everyone together." Gerald masked as Flag Boy of the Wild Magnolias for twelve years. "The feeling of putting on that suit, walking through the streets, there's nothing like it. Nothing compares to it. There's a special magic when you wear that suit," says the acclaimed drummer who's played for audiences all over the world. For Missy Bowen, host of the Wednesday edition of the New Orleans Music Show (11am-2pm), it was during the first post-Katrina Mardi Gras in 2006 that the spirit of Carnival captured her heart. "Things were so grim and so dark. We didn't even have power in our building, and here we are talking about having Mardi Gras. And then stuff started happening.... It was us in the streets, and then the parade started, and it was that creativity and political satire at its finest. We laughed, we cried, we were amazed, we hugged. At that moment I became committed to Mardi Gras."

» See the full profiles: Gerald French & Missy Bowen

Recipe: Moros y Cristianos

Rice and beans are a staple in many cuisines, and they can be perfect for Lent. This version comes to us from Executive Chef/Owner Melissa Araujo of Alma Cafe, a Honduran eatery on Louisa St in the Bywater. It's rather different from New Orleans red beans and rice, in that it uses coconut cream, and it's vegan.

» Recipe: Moros y Cristianos