Bert Jansch / Ralph McTell- "Moonshine" (1975) Live Television Performance

While all the headlines are going on about the death of Steve Jobs, today saw another death that is far more significant to me- perhaps the greatest folk guitarist I've ever heard, Bert Jansch. Rest in peace Bert, I've learned much from you and you will be greatly missed.

Pentangle- The Pentangle (1968) MP3 & FLAC -For Le Lapin Argent-

"A woman is a branchy tree, and a man's a clinging vine. And from her branches carelessly, he'll take what he can find."

Pentangle were an enigma during their initial (and quite stunning) run of albums from 1968 to 1972. While basically a folk-supergroup, these were certainly not your father's folk musicians. Infused with a counter-culture ethos of open experimentation inherited from psychedelia-inspired rock bands, but doing so playing primarily acoustic instruments (including traditional folk instruments), Pentangle were capable of weaving together the fragility of an Elizabethan ballad, the experimental drive of Post-Bop Jazz, and the extended peregrinations of an acid-drenched jam session all in the same song. While led by two guitar geniuses, John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, the band was anchored by a peerless rhythm section comprised of Terry Cox and Danny Thompson, and to my ears at least, Thompson's amazing stand-up bass work is the true star of these recordings. From the opening bars of their 1968 debut, The Pentangle, it is clear that the band has revisionism on its mind. In addition to a soaring lead vocal by Jacqui McShee, "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" features some razor sharp percussive guitar twang from Jansch that, along with Cox's inventive percussive effects, takes the song far beyond its traditional origins. The Pentangle is one of the true highlights of the late-sixties British folk movement, a movement replete with great music.

Pentangle- "Travelling Song" (1968) Live, British T.V.

What's better than a Jansch-McShee duet?  You can probably guess what's right 'round the corner...