The New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park presents Talkin' Jazz with Fred Kasten and guest Tony Dagradi on Thursday, August 10th at 2:00 PM CST.
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 Jazz Music from home with the New Orleans Jazz Museum! Join the Jazz Museum online for our daily Live-Stream Concert Series, in which dynamic musicians perform live from the Jazz Museum! Tune in at 2pm on https://www.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.
Tony Dagradi
For over four decades TONY DAGRADI has made his home in New Orleans, performing on tenor and soprano saxophone with many of the Crescent City's most celebrated artists, including Ellis Marsalis, Allen Toussaint, Professor Longhair, James Booker, The Meters, Dr. John, James Black, Johnny Adams and Gatemouth Brown. An accomplished classical performer as well, he's often called upon to augment the woodwind section of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. His performing past also includes five years as a member of the internationally acclaimed Carla Bley Band and appearances and recordings with Bobby McFerrin, Mose Allison and Nat Adderley.
Dagradi is most well known for his work with Astral Project, an adventurous quartet made up of top New Orleans players dedicated to playing cutting-edge improvisational music. Over the years the band has performed throughout the world, garnering universal praise as one of the most innovative, compelling jazz bands anywhere. For more information on Astral Project click here to visit the band website.
As a visual artist, his work with altered books offers a wide array of imagery in terms of both subject matter and stylistic process. When working with antiquarian texts, vintage encyclopedias, technical manuals, modern books and graphic novels, the results of his methods allow the contents and imagery of long outdated material to be viewed in a manner that is both exciting and thought provoking.
Dagradi has participated in numerous group exhibitions around the country including Art of the Book, Seager Gray Gallery; Pirate Contemporary, Denver; Mapping Out, Studio on the Park; Art Market, San Francisco; Art On Paper, New York; 21st No Dead Artists, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery; and Art Miami. His work has been featured at both the Contemporary Arts Center and the Ogden Museum in New Orleans and he has presented three solo shows, Remix (2022), Diffusion (2018) and Books Transposed (2018) at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery.
After teaching saxophone and jazz studies at Loyola University New Orleans for thirty years, Dagradi recently retired to devote himself more fully to his personal development as an artist, performer and composer.
Click here to learn more about Tony Dagradi.