Rhonda Hamilton
Rhonda Hamilton. Photo by Glenn A. Gordon
Bio
A pioneering voice in jazz radio, Rhonda Hamilton is the recipient of the 2026 A.B. Spelman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy. She played a key role in the early days of WBGO-FM in Newark, New Jersey—one of the country’s premier jazz radio stations—and has served as a trusted guide for generations of jazz listeners, including in her current role as host of a weekday radio show on KKJZ-FM in Los Angeles.
Born and raised in New York, one of Hamilton’s cherished childhood memories is waking up Saturday mornings to the sounds of Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole and other jazz greats as her father played his favorite records. By the time she was a teenager, she began amassing her own collection.
Hamilton attended Boston University’s College of Communication and in her junior year she began her career in jazz radio as an announcer/producer at WBUR. After graduation she became the station's music director.
Returning to the New York area in 1979, Hamilton was among the first to join the staff at WBGO. Over the next 40 years she hosted weekday programs, interviewed hundreds of musicians, produced and voiced documentaries and hosted events at venues throughout New York and New Jersey.
In 1980, Hamilton began her association with NPR. She has been the voice of numerous national broadcasts including NPR’s annual New Year’s Eve show Toast of the Nation – Coast to Coast and JazzSet.
In 2001, Hamilton helped to inaugurate the jazz programming on Sirius Satellite Radio as the host of a daily show and, after the merger with XM Satellite Radio, her affiliation continued until 2021. Between 2005 and 2010, she engaged jazz fans in Japan as the host of a program called Nissan Murano Crossover Style which aired on Inter-FM in Tokyo.
Hamilton’s dedication as a jazz broadcaster has earned her many honors including the Jazz Journalists Association Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Excellence in Broadcasting Award, the Ladies in Jazz Award from the Mayor of NYC and the Harlem Chamber of Commerce, the Amazing Women in Jazz Award from International Women in Jazz, and two consecutive New York Jazz Awards for Best Jazz DJ.
Now residing in Los Angeles, Hamilton currently hosts a show weekdays on KKJZ 88.1 FM.
"Throughout my 50-year career as a jazz broadcaster, I have had the privilege of meeting, knowing and interviewing many of the artists who have been acknowledged as NEA Jazz Masters. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I, too, would one day be recognized as a Jazz Advocate and receive this prestigious award. My love for jazz has always been the driving force behind my work, and it has always been my mission to present this great American artform in such a way that listeners cannot help but fall in love with it as well. I can't thank the NEA enough for this incredible recognition. I am truly humbled and honored."