Bert & John – BERT JANSCH & JOHN RENBOURN****

East Wind/Piano Tune/Goodbye Pork Pie Hat/Soho/Tic-Tocative/Orlando/Red’s Favourite/No Exit/Along The Way/The Time Has Come/Stepping Stones/After The Dance

Two of the most prominent British folk guitarists from the sixties, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn came together on this unique collaboration. Their efforts would lead to the creation of the celebrated folk group Pentangle.

“Jansch and his soon to be Pentangle band mate run through a series of mostly instrumental acoustic guitar duets. Rarely flashy, both men work in true collaboration allowing their steel string guitars to flesh the stunning arrangements. It is rare to hear two guitarists so brilliantly in symbiosis as here, particularly in folk music.”

“All the songs are pretty condensed often stripped down to a length less than two minutes. The playing is simply brilliant, and makes for one of the most interesting and playful guitar records I ever listened to.”

“Two of England's best folk guitarists/singer-composers got together to collaborate on a joint project and the results were excellent. It led directly to the formation of the well-known folk group Pentangle. All of the tracks except two are short instrumentals; Most written by the pair, either jointly or singly and contain plenty of innovative melodies, themes and guitar licks. The total running time is short, but there is plenty of absorbing acoustic guitar music within it.”

“The songs have a haunting, seductive quality - you really feel Bert and John are having the time of their lives, and in total control of where they're taking you.”

“I was amazed by its simplicity, its short, sharp songs, its complexity and in its incredibly accomplished guitar playing. Jansch's playing simply defies description. He is truly unique. All tracks are superb but for me The Time Has Come is the most shuddering.”

“If ever you were looking for an inspired collaboration of two equal partners, then surely this delivers the goods. Words aren't needed to puff this seminal album from the lynchpins of Pentangle. I'm sorry they were unable to double up again because they have an uncanny sense of what the other's up to, and of course their two guitar sounds perfectly complement each other.”