Renbourn

Sanctuary's mammoth triple-disc Pentangle overview poses a bit of a dilemma. First of all, it's called Pentangling, which is already the name of a 1973 compilation, and secondly, while not deliberately misleading, it focuses more attention on the solo careers of John Renbourn and Bert Jansch than it does on the entity that supplies the collection's title. Despite these petty gripes, Pentangling is filled to the brim with some of the finest recordings the British folk movement had to offer, and hearing the group as a whole, followed by an entire disc – one apiece – of two of the genre's most gifted guitarists, is rewarding in more ways than one: both men, as well as the band, released material well into the 21st century, but Pentangling focuses only on their treasured late-'60s/early-'70s output. Listeners looking for a more comprehensive take on Pentangle would be better off with Castle's excellent Light Flight: The Anthology, and Renbourn and Jansch both have lovingly packaged retrospectives that fare better than the ones offered here, but as far as entry points go, Pentangling does more than skim the surface.

John Renbourn turns in an album of guitar instrumentals (with a few other instruments added here and there) in The Nine Maidens. The dominant piece is the 13-minute title track, a three-movement original that allows Renbourn the space to work out interesting chord patterns along with fingerpicking and harmonics, beginning with the slow "Clarsach" passage before picking up speed with "The Nine Maidens" proper. Just before that, he has given lively play to "Circle Dance," having devoted the first side of the album to more contemplative pieces that might fit into the new age category, even for an artist who predates that designation by quite a few years.

John Renbourn - The Lady And The Unicorn (1970). The Lady and the Unicorn is the 1970 solo album by British folk musician John Renbourn. Featuring Terry Cox playing hand drums and glockenspiel, with future John Renbourn band member Tony Roberts and violinist Dave Swarbrick. The repertory consists of medieval and early classical pieces, interspersed with the expected folk material - keyboard works from the Fitzwilliam virginal book (transcribed for guitar) stand alongside traditional tunes such as "Scarborough Fair," which turns up as part of an 11-minute track that also incorporates "My Johnny Was a Shoemaker," with Swarbrick at the top of his form on violin. The album is entirely instrumental, but as with other Renbourn releases, one hardly misses the vocals…

This 37-track, two-disc set is the most comprehensive compilation of John Renbourn's recording career to date. In one sense, Renbourn can be defined as a traditional British folk guitarist, but within that category, he has managed a wide variety of different recording projects over 40 years. There are the solo guitar albums, of course, but then there are also duo albums with Bert Jansch and Stefan Grossman; Renbourn's major group affiliation with Pentangle; his own band projects, the John Renbourn Group and John Renbourn's Ship of Fools, and even prominent work as a sideman for other artists.

An unusually enchanting album, even for John Renbourn; The Enchanted Garden is a follow-up to the John Renbourn Group's 1977 A Maid in Bedlam, devoted to medieval and Renaissance dance and classical music, as well as folk material and Indian ragas…

John Renbourn - BBC Live In Concert (1998) {Strange Fruit SFRSCD076 rec 1978-1980}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 246 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 88 Mb
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© 1978-80, 1998 BBC Music / Strange Fruit | SFRSCD 076
Folk / British Folk / Celtic / Folk-Blues

The late '70s were a very fertile time for John Renbourn. The solo albums he'd done had explored early music and blues – the twin ends of a wide spectrum – and in his post-Pentangle period he mined a lot of the terrain in between. This album – recorded at BBC concerts on July 26, 1978, and May 21, 1980 – shows how far he'd traveled. His work with Stefan Grossman had been documented on a couple of albums, but adding flute and tabla to the lineup, as well as reuniting with former Pentangle colleague, singer Jacqui McShee, offered more possibilities, as on "Great Dreams From Heaven" and another visit to "Trees They Do Grow High," which Renbourn and McShee had performed with Pentangle.

John Renbourn's 2011 album Palermo Snow, his first new studio recording in 13 years, finds the veteran British guitarist turning in a varied set of acoustic guitar instrumentals that go well beyond the simple designation "folk." Renbourn is joined on some tracks by clarinetist Dick Lee, who first appears several minutes into the seven-minute title tune, a Renbourn original full of textured chording and careful fingerpicking.

In 1973, shortly after the breakup of the legendary Pentangle, co-lead guitarist John Renbourn recorded a full album's worth of songs for a solo project. He abandoned the set, instead releasing an entirely different collection of songs as THE HERMIT later that year. The abandoned songs, previously available only via underground tape-trading networks, surfaced several years later as THE LOST SESSIONS.

Renbourn's last solo album for the next six years overlaps with his Pentangle work, featuring Terry Cox playing hand drums and glockenspiel, with future John Renbourn band member Tony Roberts and violinist Dave Swarbrick. The repertory consists of medieval and early classical pieces, interspersed with the expected folk material…