Thursday, January 11, 2007

Folk Baroque


Bert Jansch and John Renbourn: East Wind
From Bert and John (1966)
Bert Jansch - guitar
John Renbourn - guitar

Bert Jansch: Smokey River
From Bert Jansch (1965)
Bert Jansch - guitar



"As much of a great guitar player as Jimi [Hendrix] was, Bert Jansch is the same thing for acoustic guitar...and my favorite."
~ Neil Young

“I was absolutely obsessed with Bert Jansch."
~ Jimmy Page

Bert Jansch is perhaps best known as the innovative acoustic guitarist for the British folk-rock band Pentangle, whose playing has influenced such artists as Jimmy Page (who pinched Mr. Jansch’s arrangement of the traditional “Blackwater Side” and recorded it as “Black Mountain Side” on Led Zeppelin’s debut) and Neil Young.

Interest in Bert Jansch has been piqued since the release of his well-received recent album so I thought I’d post a few track from a couple of his earlier recordings. Jansch frequently played with guitarist John Renbourn, and “Eastern Wind” offers an excellent example of their intricate style of interplay, often referred to as Folk Baroque. And “Smokey River” is a beautiful rendition of one of my favorite Jimmy Giuffre tunes, The Train and the River.*

Read more about Bert Jansch:
Bert Jansch | Official Website

Read more about Jimmy Giuffre:
Wikipedia: Jimmy Giuffre



*From Jimmy Giuffre 3 (1957)
Jimmy Giuffre - baritone sax, clarinet and tenor sax
Jim Hall - guitar
Ralph Pena - bass