Three years after the sudden death of longtime radio host Catt Sirten silenced one of Mobile’s most cherished weekend traditions, the sound of live jazz is coming back to Southwest Alabama airwaves. Station officials at 92 ZEW (WZEW) have announced that the Sunday Jazz Brunch will return this Labor Day weekend, reviving a broadcast that entertained local listeners for decades before going dark in August 2023.
The show will resume on Sunday, September 6, running from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and will once again be broadcast live from a downtown Mobile brunch venue. This time, the program will originate from Penton’s Bistro at 219 Conti Street, placing the revived broadcast right in the heart of the city’s historic downtown district.
Honoring a Mobile Radio Legend
Catt Sirten was a fixture of local radio for more than 40 years, delivering over 2,000 broadcasts across a career that included the original Jazz Brunch, along with fan-favorite programs such as Radio Avalon and Brown Bag in Bienville. Beyond his work behind the microphone, Sirten played a key role in helping establish 92 ZEW as a station, leaving a lasting mark on Mobile’s broadcasting landscape.
When Sirten died unexpectedly on August 6, 2023, while in the midst of producing his Sunday show, listeners across the region felt the loss deeply. Mobile later held a jazz-infused Celebration of Life for Sirten at the historic Saenger Theater, where members of the Mobile Big Band performed in his honor under the direction of his close friend, Chip Herrington.
A Friend Steps Up to Carry the Torch
That same friendship is now the foundation of the show’s return. Herrington, a Mobile attorney by trade and the conductor of the Mobile Big Band, shared a 30-year friendship with Sirten and has long been immersed in the same jazz tradition that defined the original broadcast. Station officials say bringing Herrington on board to host the reborn Jazz Brunch felt like a natural fit, both musically and personally, given his history performing the same repertoire Sirten championed for so long.
Fans of the original program can expect the new iteration to carry forward much of what made the Sunday tradition special: a relaxed brunch-hour setting, live jazz performance, and a broadcast that brings the energy of a downtown Mobile gathering into homes and cars across the listening area every week.
What Listeners Can Expect on Launch Day
The revived Sunday Jazz Brunch debuts on Labor Day Sunday, September 6, broadcasting live on 92 ZEW from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Listeners in the Mobile area will be able to tune in as the show airs directly from Penton’s Bistro in downtown Mobile, a setting that echoes the live-venue format longtime fans of the original broadcast will remember fondly.
For a city with deep roots in music and radio history, the return of the Jazz Brunch represents more than just a new time slot on the dial. It offers longtime listeners a chance to reconnect with a beloved Sunday ritual, while giving a new generation the opportunity to experience the kind of live, local jazz programming that helped shape Mobile’s cultural identity for generations.