José Rizo (DJ)

José Rizo (born April 27, 1956) is a disc jockey, born in Guadalajara, Mexico and grew up in Oxnard, California. He is a band leader, composer, music producer and host of Jazz on the Latin Side on radio station KKJZ. Rizo is a pioneer in programming Latin jazz on jazz radio. In 2011, his band Mongorama was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album, for their self-titled album.

History in radio

While a student at University of California, Santa Barbara, UCSB, Rizo began interviewing people on the air at KCSB-FM. In the late 1970s, he was a founder of Radio Chicano, a community and student broadcasting organization based at UC Santa Barbara. Rizo started on Santa Barbara commercial radio station KIST AM, doing a public affairs show called La Voz De La Raza that aired Sunday mornings from 1975 to 1976. He served as program director for two years. Rizo hosted a radio show called Barrio Salsoul from 1976 to 1982, on the UC Santa Barbara campus radio station, KCSB, and was the program director at KCSB in 1978.

At UCSB in the late 1970s he produced the yearly Cinco de Mayo concerts in the Storke Plaza, where he began working with such artists as Poncho Sanchez, Los Lobos, Tierra and Pete & Sheila Escovedo.

While a student at University of California, Santa Barbara, UCSB, Rizo began spinning music and interviewing people on Santa Barbara top-40 commercial radio station KIST AM, producing a public affairs show called La Voz De La Raza that aired Sunday mornings in 1975 to 1976. From 1976 to 1982, Rizo worked at the UCSB student radio station, KCSB FM, broadcasting the weekly radio show Barrio Salsoul, and serving as the radio station program director in 1978.