The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park presents Talkin' Jazz with Fred Kasten: In Concert with Brad Walker, Johnny Vidacovich, & Matt Booth on Thursday, January 5th at 2:00 PM CST.
Talkin' Jazz with Fred Kasten: In Concert is a captivating blend of interesting talk and great music featuring top jazz artists in New Orleans, hosted monthly by award-winning radio producer and interviewer Fred Kasten. Sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.
This event will consist of a 40-minute interview and a 50-minute performance.
This program takes place inside our third-floor Performance Center, listening room. Admission is free and open to the public, seating is limited and offered first come, first serve.
Enjoy live music from home with the New Orleans Jazz Museum! Join the Jazz Museum online for daily virtual concerts, in which dynamic jazz musicians perform live from the Jazz Museum! Tune in on facebook.com/nolajazzmuseum/live to watch for free.
Fred Kasten
Fred Kasten is an independent contributing radio producer/host at WWNO. After working at WWNO for over 20 years as an on-air talent, producer, and program director, Fred retired from full-time work in May of 2007. Fred is a native of Mobile, Alabama, a graduate of the University of Alabama, and a long-time resident of New Orleans. In addition to his work at WWNO, Fred develops independent audio projects from a home studio, producing radio features, commercials, and podcasts. Fred also does marketing and media consulting for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
Brad Walker
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-star 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., Zigaboo Modeliste, Anders Osborne, Marcia Ball, Rickie Lee Jones, Valerie June, Better Than Ezra, and countless others. He has also led the horn sections for Grammy-winner Sturgill Simpson, 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, and Terence Blanchard. He was also nominated by the ‘Big Easy Awards’ (Gambit Magazine) for ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Artist’. These two award ceremonies are considered among the highest achievements in the New Orleans music community. Brad holds a Bachelor of Music degree in classical saxophone performance (2006) and a Master of Music degree in jazz studies (2011), both from Louisiana State University.
Johnny Vidacovich
Johnny Vidacovich has become one of the best drummers in a city known for its drummers. Born and bred in New Orleans, Vidacovich has the city's unique, syncopated backbeat running in his veins. Many outsiders have sought to imitate that sound which comes so naturally to those who grew up exposed to the Big Easy's street music traditions. One can hear the beat of the street in multifarious places, from the music of the Mardi Gras Indians to the Neville Brothers to Vidacovich himself. He is the quintessential New Orleans jazz drummer, with all the exuberance and skill befitting one who grew up in the birthplace of jazz. Since starting to play the drums at the age of ten, performing has been the passion of Johnny Vidacovich. From French Quarter clubs to the big stages, he has shared his talents with greats like New Orleans' "Tan Canary" Johnny Adams, Professor Longhair, and Mose Allison, and as a member of Astral Project. It is in improvisation that his abilities show the greatest advantage. Always sensitive to the shifting sands of jazz, the drum maestro may mix it up with reggae, bebop, street beat, and blues rhythms in the course of one tune, as he follows the lead of one of his collaborators.
The lightning speed with which he morphs from one style to another as the occasion requires can be heard on CDs such as Astral Project's Voodoo Bop and Elevado; his own Mystery Street, and Banks Street; and We Came To Play with George Porter Jr. He is also a highly regarded teacher and educator whose past students include Stanton Moore and Brian Blade. He has been a longtime faculty member at Loyola University and the University of New Orleans. Johnny and his wife Deborah maintain the Tipitina’s Sunday music workshops where younger students can come play with the pros on Sundays at Tip’s. Johnny played the first and every New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and has become a fixture on the New Orleans music scene. He has 4 records under his own name and an instructional book and DVD focusing on his approach to New Orleans drumming. He continues to maintain an active playing, touring, and teaching schedule, both in New Orleans and all over the world via Skype.
Matt Booth
Matt Booth is a bassist, composer, and educator based in New Orleans. Over the last decade, he has worked continuously in a wide range of groups and in various musical styles, both in the city and around the country. Presently, he is a co-leader of the piano trio Extended, leads his own group Palindromes, as well as the guitar trio Some Antics. He has performed at many of the area’s standout festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Festival, and the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival; performs regularly at noteworthy clubs in New Orleans, including Snug Harbor, Tipitinas, and the Spotted Cat; and has toured the country performing at such significant events as South by Southwest and the Rochester International Jazz Festival. As word has spread about Booth’s considerable skills and tireless work ethic, he is increasingly in demand by some of New Orleans’s most revered musicians.
In addition to his regular groups, he performs nationally as a member of the band led by celebrated New Orleans R&B organist/pianist John “Papa” Gros. Since moving to New Orleans in 2015, Booth has performed with such artists as Aurora Nealand, Brian Haas, Cyrille Aimee, Carl LeBlanc, Irma Thomas, John Sinclair, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Steve Masakowski, Panorama Jazz Band, and Squirrel Nut Zippers’ Tom Maxwell. As his impressive list of accomplishments attests, Booth shines as both a leader and a sideman. His success is attributable not simply to his mastery of his instrument, but also to his warm and casual manner that makes him a pleasure to work with, along with his abiding conviction that the musician's first responsibility is to serve the music.