--Written by Melissa Milton

For Jennifer Brady, show host of Thursday night’s Kitchen Sink program on WWOZ (10pm-Midnight), it all starts with the hills of north Mississippi. As a young one borrowing records from her father’s vinyl collection, Jennifer inherited a love of north Mississippi hill country blues, a style that emphasizes steady guitar riffs, few chord changes, unconventional song structures, and a groove sometimes called “hypnotic boogie.”

“I love that truly pure, unfiltered blues—free from polish, and when I don't listen to it for a while and come back to it, it feels so good. I always want to make sure that there’s a good representation in my shows of the blues that I like. I love Mississippi Fred McDowell so much, so I try to make sure he’s always in there.”

Jennifer connects a lot of musical dots for her listeners. She can take us back decades to early recordings by artists like Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers, as recorded by Alan Lomax, and then skip over an ocean for the distant but familiar sound of desert blues by contemporary Touareg musicians like Bombino, the Sultan of Shred who played at the Broadside here in the Crescent City in 2024 - all within a two-hour span each week.

“I like to trace the roots back. I really want my listeners to know that there are different genres, to know where the music came from, and then what came before that. I always want to make sure there’s a nice blend of new and old.”

Jennifer started as a volunteer for 'OZ back in 2012, helping with some of the station’s early social media among other projects before being trained first as a substitute host and then to anchor her own show.

“As a ‘young’ DJ compared to those who've been with ‘OZ for multiple decades, I’m deeply grateful for the music knowledge shared with me by Alski, Black Mold, Andrew Grafe, Gentilly Jr., Cousin Dimitri and others. We’re very close knit, in the background. You get to know the people who are on before and after you. It’s a kinship of DJs, that’s what the radio station is, really - a family.”

It’s a family that has a lot of fun together, as many OZillians already know if they’ve been to events like Piano Night during Jazzfest or the annual Groove Gala. If you’re Jennifer, it’s also a family that you take on cross country adventures (“I love a good road trip, it’s so freeing!”) and go out to hear live music with (“I’ve always made sure that I live within walking distance of a venue”). You also bring them home obscure records with surprising liner notes that you’ve picked up in out-of-the-way music stores in small towns and foreign countries.

And sometimes, if you’re Jennifer, you direct those same music-adoring family members during live broadcasts at Jazzfest. This year will be her third year directing segments of WWOZ’s award-winning live feed from the fairgrounds here in New Orleans. She’s excited about it: “It only makes sense that we’re finally spotlighting the music of Mexico - our southern neighbor with such a rich musical heritage - at Jazzfest. I’m looking forward to seeing Lila Downs for the first time and repeat Jazzfest performer, Son Rompe Pera and hope we can get them into the studio! Cumbia is the new punk!”