Customer Reviews

Fresh as a Sweet Sunday Morning

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Bert Jansch is one of a handful of guitarists (a handful which also includes Joseph Spence and Rev. Gary Davis) who somehow reinvented what the instrument can do, and, in so doing, became distinctive and inimitable. This performance, taped in 2006, is very well produced, and treats you to the warm, enveloping sound of Jansch's guitar and voice. As he has aged, there are less guitar pyrotechnics, but no less music.
If, like me, you're someone who will gladly sit and listen to a solo performer who knows how to present a song and how to use the guitar as its own very special voice, you'll enjoy sitting in Bert's company for 101 minutes and listening to him do what he does best. Bert's got a lot of mileage on him, and you can excuse his occasional forgetting of a lyric....You can read about that mileage in the excellent book "Dazzling Stranger", also available on Amazon.
For me, it's worth the price of admission just to hear him play Reynardine. But call me sentimental, I wish he'd put Angie on there...

Everyone who likes to play guitar, especially fingerstyle, should check out his albums. His playing style defies all rules and yet his songs are full of harmony and energy. But because of that his songs are always a challenge to learn to play.

This DVD is a real treat for Bert Jansch fans since there isn't a lot of video footage of him playing live, though there are a few clips on youtube. Some highlights include Rosemary Lane, Reynardine, Poison, Fresh as a sweet Sunday Morning, Blackwaterside, and Oh My Father. I am a little disappointed he didn't play The Black Swan off his latest album with the same name.

If you don't already know about Bert Jansch, this is a great place to start. He is a one of a kind guitar player. Staggering. He's also a wonderful singer and interpreter of songs, and a fine song writer to boot. I cannot recommend him highly enough.