JOHN RENBOURN

Renbourn's near guitar tutorials of ancient Pavane instrumentalss, which lead off the album, would have fit perfectly on his Lady And The Unicorn album from the mid seventies. Again, being of the same quality. This gives the album a sense of being neither fish nor foul, despite the quality, and leads one to want to focus on only one genre and go back to past albums to explore that genre more deeply. Only the semi improvisational instrumental "Sidi Brahim" puts one in mind of the Renbourn Group's first album, but by then it's too late as the spell has long been broken. 3 stars.

Shorn of bass and drums, the magical table playing of Keshav Sathe wonderfully fills both music spaces allowing the delicate vocals of McShee and Draham shine, while the woodwinds of Tony Roberts and Drahan's fiddle offer wonderful melodies and counterpoints. Renbourn is happy to play his acoustic guitar in an understated supporting role. An amazing feat of humbleness on behalf of the acoustic guitar virtuoso. All of the songs are so good that it's hard to pick favorites, but the unique multiple vocal reading of "John Barleycorn", featuring the staggered counter backing vocals of both McShee and Draham countering Renbourn's and Robert's harmony leads, must be a highlight. My only complaint is that the album is so enjoyable that just goes by too quickly. Thank God for the replay button.

This is a purebred Folk album, with pieces of traditional origins. Tabla is of course an Eastern percussion instrument, but it hardly distances the music from the Renaissance era oriented Englishness. The opener 'Black Waterside' is a traditional tune recorded by several British folk artists. Jacqui's lead vocals flow as beautifully as ever, and the instrumentation has a sincere Old Music feel to it, with especially recorder catching the ear. 'Nacht Tanz / Shaeffertanz' is a joyful, danceable instrumental. You can almost see a Renaissance faire in your mind. The album's title track has a nice melody very typical for traditional songs focusing on telling a story. Next comes another instrumental medley, credited to some Hans Neuseidler, followed by a well known trad. tune 'John Barleycorn'. This orthodox folk version is quite far from the Traffic version which I admit preferring. 'Reynardine' is also interpreted by many folk rock artists. Male backing vocals accompany Jacqui. It is however her solo vocal numbers such as 'My Johnny Was a Shoemaker' that will most please me and undoubtedly other Pentangle listeners. On 'Death and the Lady' Jacqui is only a bit later joining male voices.

The closing number 'Talk About Suffering' is an a cappella performance for four voices, although some fiddle is added on the background -- for no point if you ask me. Slightly resembling Steeleye Span's 'Gaudete', this is among the highlights on a rather brief and, well, a bit single-minded album lacking of happy surprises in either the sound or the song selection. But if you want to have some real Renaissance era Folk music without a rock flavour for change, and are fond of Jacqui McShee's crsytalline voice, this album with a beautiful cover art is surely worth having.

The former Pentangle member re-interprets his old standbys like "Great Dream From Heaven" and "Sweet Potato" with subtle changes in arrangement while interjecting jaw dropping finger picked leads that would have impressed greats like Davy Graham and Django Reinhardt. John's confident demeaner shines through in his playing. He knows he's one of the greats by this juncture and he's happy to flaunt it, much to the delight of his audience. John's vocals are also more confident, deeper and commanding at this point, which makes the rare appearance of "Lord Franklin" from Pentangle's "Cruel Sister" album all the more poignant and touching. Live In Italy is an important document in the development and growth of John Renbourn, which at this point, looked like it had no end. 4 stars for the content and excellent sound quality.

Old Pentangle mates Danny Thompson, and Terry Cox turn up on double bass and drums, respectively, and add a funky vibe to "Kokomo Blues", "Shake Shake Mamma" and the album's instrumental title track. All are good, but it's the songs with just Renbourn's acoustic or electric guitar, sitar, harmonica and vocals that really shine, and show that Renbourn's depth of knowledge of folk and blues was more than just skin deep. And this album, lovingly played, sung and recorded, demonstrates just how much he loved those genres. 4 stars.

"The Three Pieces By O' Carolan" maintain the same Elizabethan vibe until John gets to Irish harp icon O' Carolan's best known and final composition titled "Mrs. Powers (O' Carolan's Concerto)". This is where Renbourn really starts to let his impressive finger skills shine as he rattles off light speed-like phrases of cascading notes as he traverses his fretboard with mind numbing accuracy. "The Princess and The Pudding" is more Mock-Tudor stylings (Renbourn's description, not mine) that's based on a jingle that Renbourn heard on either TV or radio in an commercial for cooked pies!

"Faro's Rag" is just that, a rag, with more exquisite finger picking in a much more, naturally, upbeat song comprised of different phrases that John felt worked well together. Even if they didn't, it's hard to imagine the song would have suffered much.

The title track "The Hermit" is a technical tour de force that is absolutely stunning as John again traverses the fret board with a combination of finger twisting finger placements while rapidly playing notes that extend from one end of the fretboard to the other. It's a song that I've never heard Renbourn play in concert and I can only assume it's one that has to be performed when all the planets are in alignment. "Goat Island" is pure bluesy Pentangle complete with a Bert Jansch styled finger picked melody over which John adds bluesy leads and is another standout track. "Old Mac Bridgitt" and "Bicycle Tune" are more piano styled rags with a bit of Jelly Roll Morton thrown in (Old Mac) and again are technically imprssive but are a bit sedate after hearing "The Hermit" and "Goat Island". "John's Tune" has a jazzy blues vibe but is not as impressive as "Goat Island", but the album closer "Carline's Tune" is another Pentangle-like gem. Again featuring a Jansch styled main melody, John goes blues ballistic with impressive finger slides, string pulls, bends, hammer ons and anything else he can think of in order to make his guitar strings protest and cry. It's ends too quickly but great music always does.

Some may feel that Renbourn does a lot to break the continuity of some songs by his overuse of tricky leads and additions, but at no time is his playing obstructive or distracting. Technical prowess is nothing without melodic genius and Renbourn always displays both attributes throughout his playing on The Hermit. Indeed, The Hermit along with The Black Balloon and The Nine Maidens albums were Renbourn's pinnacle of composition, historical reference and virtuoso playing and will always remain totally unique and fresh sounding in the folk rock and folk prog canon.

Renbourn's vocals haven't improved much at this juncture but at least he sings without trying to over compensate and the choice of recording traditional folk songs over his much beloved blues covers also helps as this material was probably never intended for accomplished vocalists. The poignant "Banks of The Sweet Primroses" and a spirited reading of Jackson Franks' folk standard "Blues Run The Game", along with it's excellent production values, probably places this album in a 4 star category (3.5 rounded up) but I can only recommend it for dedicated followers of the late artist.

What is also different about this all instrumental album is that Renbourn forgoes his need to combine a guitar tutorial with an artistic endeavor as his did on his celebrated albums The Hermit and Black Balloon, which both featured very staid, if ornate, pre Renaissance and baroque era songs that Renbourn reworked for guitar. The Nine Maidens is made up of six songs composed by Renbourn that start out in the familiar stately Elizabethan styles that he so loved, like a reworking of his celebrated "Lady Nothinge's Toye Puff" from his Sir John Alot album. Followed by "The Fish In The Well" and "Pavan D'Aragon". Both songs can't fail to conjure up mental images of knights, kingly courts and stately galliards with future damsels in distress. Renbourn has done this before but never as accomplished. What really sets this album apart, from a prog perspective, is the collaborations with longtime alumnus Tony Roberts and Toby Peddley on North Umbrian Pipes and recorder, respectively, on the manic but sublimely melodic "Circle Dance" which is a wonderful set up for the magnificent mini opus that entails the album's three part title track. Indeed, more stately guitar soon gives way to a Celtic romp of dual recorders and congas that would have made Mike Oldfield envious as it would have easily stood out had the music from "The Nine Maidens" been included on an album like Ommidawn or Hergest Ridge. "Variations On My Lady Carey Dompe", that anticipates "Circle Dance", is another clinic in pre medieval grandeur that does seem to start to overstay it's welcome but Renbourn's lightning fast injections of lead guitar make one anticipate what he'll play next as he battles with the galloping melodies of a recorder throughout the song.

Renbourn never made another instrumental album to better The Nine Maidens and I can only surmise that he simply didn't want to. 5 stars.

John returns us to the Tudor era of The Hermit with the traditional tune "The Moon Shines Brightly". Another stately court dance, whose melody opaquely approximates the melody of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" in some of it's phrases, and where John approximates a harpsichord on his figure picked acoustic with subtle variations throughout. A somber opening that sets the stage for Renbourn's virtuouso "The English Dance" which is an upbeat melodic candy store, as John sends out a cascade of notes as he traverses his guitar with breathtaking speed and dexterity. Once again, employing an alternate tuning, John's melodies are punctuated with tricky fills and leads that are never repeated but always add to the song's gorgeous melodies. Indeed, this tune has been a staple of Renbourn's live playing up until his death and was a favorite of both his and the audience's. The "Medley: Bouree I and II" is more stately dance where Renbourn painstakingly alters his notes while staying true to the two melodies which are split apart by minor and major tonal settings.

"The Mist Covered Mountains Of Home/The Orphan/ The Tarboulton" are an Irish air, jig and reel, respectively, that were originally intended for the fiddle. These traditional tunes are expertly rendered by Renbourn, who adds melodic accompaniment from the impressive Tony Roberts on flute, and where Renbourn surprises by joining Roberts with crystalline notes from his beloved Gibson 335 electric guitar.

"The Pelican" and "The Black Balloon" are original Renbourn compositions where John branches out to the progressive elements more developed that were found on the stellar "Nine Maidens" album which followed this one. Both entail tricky electric and acoustic guitar interplay, with Tony Robert's flute returning in a jazzy mode on the latter song. These long pieces are so spellbinding that their long lengths seem to pass by in just a few minutes.

The Black Balloon is Renbourn's best sounding album with warm, detailed crystal clear sound, which is absolutely the icing on the cake of this fantastic offering from this master of the acoustic guitar.