Performance  Stuart Johnson.

Principal instruments soprano & tenor saxophones. Doubling bass clarinet, other saxophones, occasional flute and an original WX7 wind synth. Stuart considers himself a soprano saxophone specialist, having switched from clarinet on acquiring his first horn  in 1970 (a 1920's Selmer 26 for £15!). Struggling with that for years taught him most of what he knows about intonation.

That said, most of his commercial work is on tenor, for the usual reasons. The home page indicates the kinds of things he does. A solid reader, dependable section player and adventurous soloist, with a reputation for turning up in good time at the right gig with the right clothes and general absence of attitude......

Aside from journeyman deps, Stuart's present work includes:

• Tangent. Function/Corporate Hospitality. Within the traditions of 20th century popular music, ensembles arranged to meet most budgets and circumstances. Jazz, soul, funk, pop, & sensitive background music for weddings, civil partnership ceremonies, conferences, product launches, parties and special occasions. (Click link at start of this paragraph for more information)
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• Chameleon. Still the main vehicle for his jazz playing and composition, the band celebrated its 25th birthday in April 2007 and remains as chameleonocious as ever; sometimes a trio, often a quartet or larger, sometimes acoustic, sometimes electric, and always surprising!  That said, for 2011-12 it's  a funk-jazz quintet with a fixed line-up on just about every gig.
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• Northumbria Saxophone Quartet.  Playing repertoire encompassing everything from funk to opera, township jive, chamber music and commissioned work.
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• Gerry Richardson's Big Idea. Fantastic nine-piece soul-jazz band led by Hammond organ virtuoso & long-time Sting collaborator. Great gig review from 'The Independent', April 2010,  here.  Band website here
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• The James Taylor Project. Formed in 2008, a trio with guitar-vocalist Brian Dales interpreting the work of the great singer-songwriter James Taylor and his principal collaborators.

Audio player and gigs further down this page.

Left: At The Sage Gateshead with NSQ, December 2004.

Centre: At Hospitalfield, Arbroath, with Gerry Richardson's Big Idea, March 2005.

Right: At Zeffirelli's, Ambleside, with Chameleon, February 2006.

At present, the audio player below contains archive material - mostly analogue jazz-based recordings from the eighties & nineties - and some current sample standards from Tangent function duo, together with tracks from the expanded cabaret/dance version of the band featuring vocalist Brian Dales.  If it's the first time you've visited, once you've clicked a track it takes a few seconds for the music to start streaming. These are quite big files, so if you haven't got broadband or cable, the stream might skip or falter occasionally.   Current tracks are (in no particular order);

Chameleon: Contemporary Jazz/Funk/Ambient.

• Chameleon; 'Mean It', 1989.  (Andy Watson). Written by great English guitarist Andy Watson, this was recorded live by Sveriges Riksradio (Swedish State Radio) in November 1989 at Umea Jazz Festival. The MC tells you who's playing. In Swedish, of course.

• Chameleon; 'Back Door', 1995. (Stuart Johnson). A slightly lo-fi live-in-studio version of a piece inspired by and dedicated to the great British trio Back Door (Ron Aspery [1943-2003], Tony Hicks [1948-2006], and Colin Hodgkinson) whose legendary gigs at the Lion Inn on the North Yorkshire Moors in the early seventies were a formative influence on Stuart. Features Bob Peacock, an old associate of Ron's, on piano, Adrian Rea, Hicksy's brother-in-law, on drums, and Aidan Lawrence, bass guitar. Produced by Damian Blackwell, the lo-fi is entirely due to the only surviving copy of this session being on a cheap ferric cassette tape.

• Chameleon; 'Four-Way Street', 1996. (Isaac Guillory). A trio this time; Race and Stuart - on wind synthesiser - and percussionist Paul Smith, with additional guitar from producer Mike Frankland. Race worked for many years with his fellow American, guitarist Isaac Guillory (1947-2000), and this is a tune they played together regularly. Not quite like this.

• Chameleon; 'MDD'', 1996. (Stuart Johnson). Kind of Ambient. More simple harmony. More trio. More harmon-mute wind synth. Some baritone sax. MDD? Miles Dewey Davis.

• Chameleon; 'Looks Like Meringue', 1991. (John Scofield). Unearthed in May 2007 along with several other live-to-stereo recordings from tour dates in  Belfast, Norwich, Newcastle & St. Helier. More to follow when the necessary digitisation has been done. Features Paul Brown (Guitar), Aidan Lawrence (Bass), Adrian Rea (Drums), Race Newton (Keyboards) & Stuart Johnson (Wind Synthesiser), with sound engineering from Colin Wilson at  Compact Audio. We think this one is from Live Theatre, Newcastle, on November 17th, 1991.

• Chameleon; 'Fine Lines', 1991. (Andy Watson). Another one of Andy's great tunes, although he doesn't play on this recording. Also from May 2007's archaeological dig featuring the same line up and instrumentation as above from, we think, the same gig.

• Chameleon; 'Fine Lines (1)', 1991. (Andy Watson). Another version of the above, recorded in Belfast on November 13th, 1991.
  

• Chameleon; 'Yesterdays' 1995 -  we think. (Jerome Kern) & 'Autumn Leaves'  (Joseph Kosma/Johnny Mercer). Two standards, found during a loft clearance in November 2009. A trio; Bob Peacock, Piano; Keith Peberdy, Bass Guitar & Stuart Johnson, Soprano Saxophone.  

• Chameleon; 'Willow Weep For Me', 1996. (Ann Ronell). Another standard. Just a duo; Stuart Johnson & Race Newton
  

• Without question, Race Newton (1927-2003) is the single musician who has most affected my life. His great piano playing, prodigious intelligence, wisdom and joyous sense of humour touched all who knew him. Every moment spent with him was a lesson in how to live a decent life. He was the best company you could possibly have, and a remarkable human being. We all miss him every day.

Tangent: Cocktail Jazz Duo; Function/Dance Band with Vocalist; Background Music.

• Tangent; 'Gentle Rain', 2007. (Luis Bonfa). Cocktail jazz from the duo......

• Tangent; 'Alone Together', 2007. (Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwarz)....and more.

• Tangent; 'I Loves You Porgy', 2007. (George Gershwin).....and more.

• Many thanks to studiomeister Dave Turner for these three first-take recordings.

• Tangent + Brian Dales; 'How Sweet It Is', 2008. (Holland-Dozier-Holland). Junior Walker's Motown masterpiece, although this version is pretty much James Taylor's cover. Watch out for  James Taylor Project  recordings here & extracts from the band's DVD recorded in concert in November 2008. Coming soon.

• Tangent + Brian Dales; 'Chasing Cars', 2008. (Snow Patrol). Contemporary indie classic.

• Tangent + Brian Dales; 'Save The Last Dance For Me', 2008. (Doc Pomus & Mort Shuman) An interpretation of Michael Buble's latin version of The Drifters/Ben E. King perennial.

• Tangent + Brian Dales; 'Home', 2008. (Michael Buble) Fine ballad written by the great young Canadian vocalist.

• Tangent + Brian Dales; 'Beyond The Sea', 2008. (Charles Trenet). Classic swing tune from the repertoire of everyone from Sinatra to Aznavour.

• Tangent + Brian Dales; 'Just The Two Of Us', 2008. (Bill Withers). The evergreen seventies' soul anthem.

• Tangent + Brian Dales; 'Fields Of Gold', 2008. (Sting). Minus live Northumbrian pipes, alas - but they can be arranged!

• Thanks to our old friend Mike Frankland for his production on these seven tracks.

Stuart Johnson: Soundtrack.

• Stuart Johnson; 'Ice & Fire', 1997. (Stuart Johnson). A piece for bass clarinet and sequencers, produced by Mike Frankland, and written for Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company's ambitious 'Street of the Moon', staged over five nights on boats and floating stages on the River Tees, England, in August 1997 as part of Stockton Riverside International Festival's Tenth Anniversary celebrations.

• Big Band; Voice of the North. Another neglected tape recovered in November 2009. These are the first four digitisations of a recording made by The Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra at Harrogate International Festival, England, on July 31st, 1998. MD & solo tenor saxophone Tommy Smith, with Mark Nightingale (trombone) and Bruce Adams (trumpet) as the other guest soloists. This concert, and subsequent ones, were originally intended to present three of Duke Ellington's great suites in their entirety; 'Such Sweet Thunder', 'The Queen's Suite', and 'The Far East Suite'. Realising that this would take well over three hours and destroy everyone's chops, the eventual performances presented substantial sections of all three works, and still destroyed everyone's chops. Stuart plays baritone saxophone & bass clarinet throughout.
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• VOTN-Ellington; 'Depk', from' The Far East Suite'. Stuart takes the odd and tricky theme on baritone with Richard Ingham, clarinet.
• VOTN-Ellington; 'Tourist Point of View', from 'The Far East Suite' . Great tenor solo from Tommy Smith.
• VOTN-Ellington; 'Le Sucrier Velours', from 'The Queen's Suite'.  Classic Ellington textures & voicings for reeds. Unmistakeable.
• VOTN-Ellington; 'Madness in Great Ones', from 'Such Sweet Thunder'. In which Bruce Adams gives Cat Anderson, the Ellington band's high-note specialist, a run for his money.
  

Move cursor over titles to scroll up and down, then single-click to play.

Nothing to do with any of the above, save that here is another big influence - not just on me but on pretty much everyone who tries to play this music. I only ever got to hear the band live twice - this was the second time, in October 1978 at Newcastle City Hall, England.  Peter Erskine, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter & Joe Zawinul ;

 The incomparable Weather Report.

And whilst we're here, two more guiding lights.................................

Frank Zappa at the same venue a few months later, February 1979.

And a youthful Pat Metheny in a tent. Bracknell Jazz Festival, England, July 1980.