The Black Swan

iTunes Review

Nearly everything recorded by legendary English folk guitarist Bert Jansch, solo or with his group Pentangle, is worth hearing. This 2006 recording, started at the guitarist’s home and finished with the help of producer Noah Georgeson and his band of co-conspirators (Otto Hauser, Devendra Banhart plus the ghostly Beth Orton on three tracks), is a beautifully recorded collection of originals and traditional songs that benefit from Jansch’s deft, understated touch. Orton and Banhart nicely duet on “Katie Cruel,” a tune once uncovered by Karen Dalton, but it’s Jansch’s own aged croak that’s most affecting and adds the poignant heft to the unusually dramatic cello and guitar mourn of the title track. “High Days,” a tune that alludes to the doomed and peerless ‘60s songwriter Tim Hardin, and “Hey Pretty Girl,” a song acknowledging the seductive power of rock n’ roll, are Jansch stripped to just voice and guitar yet filling the room with dense atmosphere. (“The Old Triangle” is also credited solely to Jansch’s guitar and vocal, but sounds like an entire ensemble). “A Woman Like You” adds slide guitar and bare percussion to its sultry rhythm. Forty years on, Jansch has lost not a step. He deserves your attention.