 | | Reviews | | |  BERT JANSCH
The River Sessions
River CD006
"Can't actually see you out there, but I'll know that you're there," announces Bert from the stage of Glasgow's City Hall on this estimable release - another from the Scottish Radio archives and dating from November 1974. The comment could define Jansch's hip minority niche before and after Pentangle, as his has been a thinking person's marketplace since hitching to London from his native Edinburgh in the early '60s to form an integral part of the Cousins/Marquee scene. The word-of-mouth buzz that heralded his self-titled debut LP in 1965 was, well, purely word of mouth.
Pentangle and the hit single Light Flight would raise his profile, and prior to the split in 1973, Bert had spent the previous six or so years as part of that acclaimed outfit, making the solo Rosemary Lane whilst a member. Striking out once more on his own, he'd signed rightaway to the Charisma label, and by the time of this concert, two prodigious LPs had been released - LA Turnaround and Santa Barbara Honeymoon.
Offering a mix of material from those albums (10 of the 14 tracks here) Bert is determined to show that he still matters. He's convincing too. Build Another Band says it all really ("A tonic for Danny Thompson and myself. A get-out-there-and-start-again sort of thing") - direct and accessible, and 'tween song chat neither convoluted nor opaque.
With no company onstage apart from his acoustic guitar, Jansch creates an atmosphere as intimate as a conversation. A cool forlornness with a casual intensity on I've Got A Feeling, a delicious icy purity on Fresh As A Sweet Sunday Morning.
'Jocular' and 'bouncy' are not adjectives that could easily be applied to this set but, as inspirational a player as Davy Graham, whose supernal Anji is included, Bert's picking is absorbing and uplifting. It's small wonder that he can count Jimmy Page and Johnny Marr in with his fanbase. A CD then which captures a durable musician at an interesting point in his career - not only a tasty treat for Janschian aficionados but a sterling recording in its own right. One to be savoured.
Clive Pownceby - September 2004
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Folk & Acoustic
