Charles Bradley — Live on KEXP, 2012

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Why this recording

KEXP's credits spell out the crew: three camera operators (Jim Beckmann, Scott Holpainen, Justin Wilmore), editor Luke Knecht and audio engineer Jackson Long. Four songs in eighteen and a half minutes means the video carries the whole session rather than a single track. The billing gives the Menahan Street Band equal weight with the singer, so this HD film from 2012 is as much a portrait of the band as of Bradley.

— Simon Janvier, live-sound professional and editor of the catalogue

Recording technical sheet

Rights-holding channelKEXP
Source statusOfficial — broadcaster or organiser
Uploaded
Exact runtime
ResolutionHD (720p+)
Source qualityProfessional (multi-camera)

Metadata checked on YouTube on 29 September 2026; direction, camera setup and sound documented by the editors.

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Published on August 10, 2026 by Simon Janvier

Filmed live session by Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band in the KEXP radio studio in Seattle, recorded on 6 December 2012. Nicknamed “the Screaming Eagle of Soul”, Charles Bradley came to prominence late: a former James Brown impersonator, he released his debut album, No Time for Dreaming, only in 2011, aged over sixty, on the Daptone label. This KEXP session, a multi-song live format, shows him carried by a vintage soul and funk band with analog instrumentation. The live concert runs through four songs: “Lights Out”, “Three Faces”, “Lovin’ You Baby” and “How Long”. Between wrenching cries and inhabited ballads, Bradley delivers a raw soul inherited from the 1960s-70s golden age, marked by a painful life story. Captured by the KEXP team (host: Stevie Zoom), this filmed live performance documents the talent of an artist who died in 2017 and became a figure of the soul revival. Year: 2012.

Setlist

  1. Lights Out
  2. Three Faces
  3. Lovin' You Baby
  4. How Long

Personnel & credits

  • Charles Bradley — vocals
  • The Menahan Street Band — backing band
  • Stevie Zoom — host (KEXP)
  • Jackson Long — sound recording
Category

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