Tony Dagradi is best known as the leader ofthe New Orleans modern-jazz group AstralProject, which he has made his life project.Yet he has had several other important threadsin his forty-year career: serving a series ofinformal apprenticeships with experimentaljazz, soul, and rhythm and blues artists in the1970s, playing, touring, and recording withProfessor Longhair, 1978-80, doing the samewith the Carla Bley Band, 1980-85, partneringwith the bassist Ramsey McLean in the early1980s, performing in a longstanding triowith James Singleton and John Vidacovich, making recordings as a sideman with manyNew Orleans jazz and popular musicians, andteaching at Loyola University of New Orleansas well as writing some important pedagogicalmaterials on jazz saxophone.Drawing on interviews with Tony and some40 other New Orleans musicians as well as aninconceivable quantity of other research, thisbook examines all facets of his career and hisrecordings as leader and sideman. Essentialreading for fans of Tony, Astral Project, NewOrleans music, and jazz saxophone.