Customer Reviews

Passe Avant & At the Little Theatre

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jacqui McShee's vocal style has stayed pure and ethereal from her early days to this somewhat jazzy CD. Musically, this is not at all like the early folk-rock fusion Pentangle. For want of a better phrase, it might best be called folk-jazz fusion (extensive touches of piano and saxophone) but it works, and it works well.

I own most of the Pentangle albums from their first and second periods. Didn't know what to expect of this 2 CD set based on some of the reviews. However, it far exceeded my expectations. Just goes to show, you can't really tell whether you're going to like something (or not) based on the Amazon reviews one reads. However, in the interest of fairness, if you don't like lyrical jazz, and am looking for a good folk rock album, this may not be your cup a tea.

I love the Pentangle. Me and my friend used to love listening to all sorts of music and we both were looking for a certain sort of music that didn't seem to exist. Jethro Tull is good, Steeleye Span not quite right, blues, no. Blue Oyster Cult, no. Aphrodite's Child too Gregorian. British/Irish folk, not right either. Good, but we wanted something real specific. We liked old music (well, it was old at the time).

I somehow, ended up buying Basket of Light. The first track dropped in and I called my friend and said "I think I found the music we've been looking for.". I listened to that record dozens of times. I bought every other Pentangle album. Solomon's Seal, Cruel Sister, The Pentangle, Sweet Child. I bought Bert Jansch Albums. I bought John Renbourne albums. I bought solo albums from all the band members except Jacqui McShee. At the time, this album didn't exist. I always thought that Jacqui had a huge portion of the talent of the group, with her magnificent voice. John Renbourne was OK, Bert Jansch was OK, but when they were playing with Jacqui, another dimension was added with her vocals. Even Bert's vocals sounded better when Jacqui's were near by! As a soloist, something was missing from Bert Jansch.

So, flash-forward 16 years. I bought all the Pentangle albums on CD. Records are on the way out, for those of you who haven't heard. I listened to Sweet Child more (it was my least favorite of the original Pentangle albums) and listened to "The Trees Grow High". I remembered loving the voice of that woman. I looked and found...viola! A solo album! I purchased it with great alacrity.

I don't like jazz. Sorry, jazz-derived stuff is fine, but jazz doesn't do it for me. I understand the woman wants to redefine herself, start her solo career, but sometimes its hard. If I remember correctly, she came from jazz to join the Pentangle in the first place.

To make a long story short, if you love the Pentangle and the unique sound that they somehow managed to hit, don't keep looking. Let it live in a magical world that time will never touch.

If you like jazz, you will love this album. Jacqui's voice is amazing.

I couldn't give the most beautiful female voice I've ever heard less than 2 stars.