Brad Walker is one of the most active and sought-after performers in the city of New Orleans. Perhaps best known for his “soaring” (Rolling Stone), “energetic” (NPR), and “tasteful” (Relix) solos on Saturday Night Live, the 2017 Grammys, and the Tonight Show with Nashville mega-star Sturgill Simpson, Walker is an active and compelling artist in his own right, with seven full-length releases under his own name and a decade plus of music-making in the Crescent City under his belt. His 2014 debut, ‘Quintet’, received a 4-**** review in DownBeat magazine, and his playing has received praise in the Times-Picayune, Variety, OffBeat Magazine, Gambit Weekly, and many others.
In 2020, Walker was nominated for two ‘Best of the Beat’ Awards (OffBeat Magazine), in the ‘Contemporary Jazz’ category as ‘Best Artist’ and for ‘Best Record’ (for ‘Live at Snug Harbor’), alongside such international stars as Nicholas Payton, Jon Batiste, Herlin Riley, Christian Scott, and Terence Blanchard. He was also nominated by the ‘Big Easy Awards’ (Gambit Magazine) as ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Artist’. These two award ceremonies are considered the pinnacle of achievement in the New Orleans music community. He was again nominated as ‘Best Saxophonist’ and ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Artist’ by OffBeat in 2021, as well as receiving a nomination for ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Album’ for ‘The Dockside Sessions’.
Since 2009 Walker has performed or recorded with such luminaries as Bernard Purdie, Peter Erskine, John Riley, George Porter, Jr., Anders Osborne, Ivan Neville/Dumpstaphunk, Marcia Ball, Rickie Lee Jones, Valerie June, Alex Ebert, Better than Ezra, U2 (w/Hal Willner), Zigaboo Modeliste and countless others, and has led the horn sections for Blues Award-winner Ana Popovic and OffBeat Award winners Eric Lindell, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, Honey Island Swamp Band, and Colin Lake. Since 2016 he has worked with New Orleans native PJ Morton, recording on multiple Grammy Award-winning and -nominated records, and performing on ‘The Today Show’, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, ’BET Gospel Super Bowl’, and other national programs.
Brad Walker - saxophone
Sam Kuslan - piano
Matt Booth - bass
Al Sergel - drums
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