Raised in London and after graduating from Sheffield University in 1968, Bridget made her first demo, with John Martyn’s help, on a Revox owned by singer/songwriter, Al Stewart.
Within weeks of leaving college, Bridget was recording her first BBC radio broadcast for John Peel’s eclectic Wednesday evening BBC programme Night Ride. John Peel took Bridget under his wing and there followed various other BBC radio and TV sessions as well as live performances.
When Peel and business partner Clive Selwood formed their own label, Dandelion, Bridget St. John was one of the first signings In 1969. She would record 3 albums for the Dandelion label, Ask Me No Questions, Songs for the Gentle Man, and Thank You For… and became a mainstay of the booming college and club circuit.
When Dandelion closed its doors in 1973 Bridget made her 4th album for Chrysalis, Jumblequeen, produced by Ten Years After’s Leo Lyons. She continued touring until she made the decision to move from the UK to New York in the summer of 1976 – settling in Greenwich Village.
Bridget played prominent Village clubs – The Bottom Line, The Bitter End and Kenny’s Castaways – as well as college and club dates in the Tri-state area; she also appeared at Carnegie Hall, opening for The Paul Winter Consort, and at the Central Park Wollman Rink Summer Stage, opening for Robert Klein and Dion.
Road Goes On Forever Records released Bridget’s fifth album in 1995, Take the 5ifth – a compilation of recordings made between 1976 and 1982.
Her first 3 albums and a double cd of BBC sessions are currently available through Cherry Red Records; Jumblequeen and the complete BBC recordings are available through HUX records. Three tours in Japan have produced 2 live albums, and a third of studio tracks.
Over the years she has recorded with many artists – Mike Oldfield, Kevin Ayers, Bill Wells, Elisa Randazzo, Phosphene, Taku Hayashi, David Nagler, and Michael Chapman – on Deal Gone Down and more recently on his ’50’ released in 2016, and the followup album recorded in April of this year.
Her recordings have been used in Milagros Mumenthaler’s (2011) Back to Stay (Abrir Puertas Y Ventanas) and Adam Goldberg’s No Way Jose (2015). She also contributed to Adam’s HOME: A Nice Place To Visit, released in May 2018.
Bridget continues to write and perform – solo, or with
Galen Ayers reinterpreting songs written by her father,
Kevin Ayers; and most recently forming a band in collaboration with David Nagler, Annie Nero and Ray Rizzo.
Jemeel Moondoc-sax
Larry Rolands-bass
Newman Taylor Baker-drums
American jazz saxophonist, born 5 August 1951 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.