Saxophone with Brad W.

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 Grammys, and the Tonight Show with Nashville mega-star Sturgill Simpson, Brad Walker is an active and compelling artist in his own right, with five full-length releases under his own name and a decade 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 Variety, OffBeat Magazine, Gambit Weekly, Dig!, and many others. Since 2009 Walker has performed or recorded with such luminaries as Bernard Purdie, Peter Erskine, John Riley, George Porter, Jr., Anders Osborne, Marcia Ball, Rickie Lee Jones, Valerie June, Better than Ezra, 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. In 2019/2020, Walker was nominated for two ‘Best of the Beat’ Awards (OffBeat Magazine), in the ‘Contemporary Jazz’ category as ‘Best Artist’ and for ‘Best Record’, alongside such international stars as Nicholas Payton, Jon Batiste, Herlin Riley, Christian Scott, Terence Blanchard. He was also nominated by the ‘Big Easy Awards’ (Gambit Magazine) for ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Artist’. These two award ceremonies are considered the pinnacle of achievement in the New Orleans music community. Brad holds a Bachelor of Music degree in classical saxophone performance (2006) and Master of Music degree in jazz studies (2011), both from Louisiana State University.