This month, we are featuring Bria Woods. She is the host of “Women in Jazz”, a show celebrating female jazz musicians from the past to the present. Bria Woods is an artist and she currently works as a photojournalist with the San Antonio Report. In her spare time, she goes to art exhibitions, artist talks, and book signings. She also enjoys quality time with her friends.
Bria grew up listening to Smooth Jazz 105.9 FM. Her dad played the station every morning during her drive to school in Washington D.C. Bria recalls, “It was the first music genre I was exposed to, and I loved it. The brassy horns, the thumping snares, the buttery vocals serenaded me every day in elementary school.” She and her parents would go to jazz festivals and outdoor concerts in the National Mall, a park in D.C home to the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. These experiences of engaging with jazz along with her family are some of her “earliest and fondest memories”. For Bria, “jazz is the timeless sound of joy, liberation, and playfulness.”
Bria Woods went to Trinity University where she began her work with KRTU. She took the radio production class and hosted a show on Indie Overnite while she was learning. Then she took the opportunity to host a show during Jazz in the Afternoon for the rest of her time at Trinity. One summer, she worked with the Development and Outreach team which allowed her to learn about the business side of listener-supported, global radio stations. This is Bria’s eighth year of involvement with KRTU.
“Women in Jazz” began at the start of this year, January 2022. She is still getting comfortable with the new format, but is excited to see her show evolve as she builds the concept - a celebration of “trailblazers and emerging artists in jazz.” She wants her listeners to know that the “sounds from yesterday and tunes that are hot off the press are what you can look forward to from 8-9pm every Thursday.” A few of her favorite genres include swing, nu-jazz, fusion, and funk. She enjoys tunes with “an upbeat tempo and whimsical instrumentation.” Currently she is loving the Dear Love album by Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force. You can expect to hear the stories behind the music when listening to her show. “Whether it’s a story about the artists or how that particular tune or album came to be.” Stories are her favorite way to inform her listeners about the artist and help them connect with the music.
Lastly, Bria is a big supporter of the arts and radio. She believes that “music has the power to bring people together”. “When we say Find Your Jazz to me that means, find your community, find your favorite musician, your favorite album, your favorite hidden story about the music, find your rhythm. It matters.”
“Women musicians have long fought for respect and equal footing to their male counterparts. Some were fortunate enough to receive their flowers while they were still alive, and other women are finally getting the respect they always deserved. The artists we feature on this show are not talented in spite of being women, they are powerhouses because they are women.”
- Bria Woods, Host of “Women in Jazz”