Pentangle – Reunions: Live & BBC Sessions 1982-2011: Album Review

By Gareth Allen on 18th January 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Pentangle re-defined the musical possibilities of folk and jazz music, and on this new box set their live and session reunion work is justly celebrated.

Release date: Available now

Label: Cherry Tree

Format: 4 CD Box Set

Pentangle reunited, in their original lineup, in several phases over the period 1982 to 2011. This very well put together box set faithfully documents these reunions, through a set of festival, concert, session, and TV/Radio audio recordings. The lineup of Bert Jansch (vocals/guitar), Jacqui McShee (vocals), John Renbourn (vocals/guitar), Danny Thompson (double bass) and Terry Cox (drums), demonstrate why they were and still are, such a legendary and well-respected ensemble, as they seamlessly combine folk, jazz, and blues, with improvisation and exquisite interpretive and songwriting abilities. Their’s was a completely unique musical approach, which has never been duplicated, and which pioneered the coming together of folk and jazz, opening artistic horizons for many of the musicians and bands that deservedly cite them as a major influence.

CD Disc One

Disc one documents the reunions at the BBC, including an appearance at the Cambridge Folk Festival recorded for the BBC World Service (without drummer Terry Cox who couldn’t appear because of injuries sustained in a road accident), BBC radio session work, and appearances at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and Jools Holland’s Later TV show.

The 1982 Cambridge Folk Festival set begins with Train Song, which from a bluesy instrumental introduction, flies into a syncopated folk jazz work out, with Jacqui McShee’s scat singing perfectly complementing Bert Jansch’s expressive lead vocal. Danny Thompson’s double bass figures add an endearing jazz flavour to John Renbourn’s mystical folk-based guitar runs. The rhythms which drive the frenetic pace of the song are wonderfully irresistible. The atmospheric bowed double bass led coda perfectly completes this superb performance, which tells you everything you need to know about the wonderful musicianship of Pentangle.

From later in their Cambridge set, Pentangle’s classic take on the traditional Bruton Town, is a beautifully told tale of loss, with Jacqui McShee’s lead vocal conveying the heartfelt poignancy at the song’s heart. There is a lovely lilt to the instrumentation with the interlocking guitars providing a medieval-like ambience.

Pentangle achieved a lifetime achievement award at the 2007 Radio Two Folk Awards and agreed to play a couple of songs including Light Flight, a hit single for the band, and the theme for the television series Take Three Girls. It is introduced with the words: “This song is even trickier to get together than the last one was.” The intricate combination of melody, complex time signatures, and perfectly pitched lead and harmony vocals that run in parallel, sounds effortless in this performance, but few musicians could pull off this complexity in the way Pentangle do here. Especially remarkable here is Terry Cox’s subtle and nuanced drumming, which has the drums as a lead instrument, accenting the melody in perfect service of the song. Lyrically, the mix of optimism and hope mixed with a sense of loss of what might have been, somehow feeling very resonant of the dream of the 1960s social movements.

From the 2008 appearance on Later With Jools Holland, we are treated to the full three song performance, including a majestic swing-based version of I’ve Got A Feeling, with a stunning languorous bluesy vocal from Jacqui McShee, and Danny Thompson’s double bass solo at the bridge, mesmerising in the melodic tones he conjures out of this wonderful instrument. There is also a version of Light Flight, played with a fresh energy, insight, and finesse, that marks it out as a timeless classic that will never date or lose its lustre. There are many other delights from the BBC archive to enjoy on this disc, a must listen too part of this great box set.

CD Disc two combines selected recordings from concerts in 1982 from Thiene and Milan, sequenced to provide the best sounding performances across the two shows. Particular highlights include the traditional folk ballad, A Bold Young Farmer, sung unaccompanied by Jacqui McShee, with her voice soaring and full of empathy for the song’s protagonist and her sense of loss. The audience listen captivated, in contrast to their energetic participation, which can be heard at other points across these recordings. A testament to the power of this fine solo vocal performance.

Blackwater Side features the duo of Bert Jansch and Danny Thompson, and the exchange between the guitar and double bass is magical, combining jazz rhythms and an almost psychedelic timbre to the acoustic guitar, that simultaneously conveys the listener to 1960s West Coast experimental music and a 1950s jazz club cellar. It is completely magical.

CD Discs three and four comprise the band’s final double album, Finale: An Evening With Pentangle, which includes a selection of performances from their 2008 UK tour. Bert Jansch supervised the mixing and sequencing, and John Renbourn prepared the original album masters. Given that it first came out in 2016, before which both musicians had sadly passed away, it is a fitting tribute to them and the legacy of Pentangle. It is heart-warming to see it included in this box set, not least as many of the performances here are for this reviewer some of their finest. The band in these performances, brought a maturity of playing and well-honed craft, together with the creative experimentation in musical styles and gift for improvisation which had always been at the core of their music, to produce something very special indeed.

Pentangle’s interpretation of the Charles Mingus classic Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, recorded at the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow is a great example of this, and is just peerless. The guitar playing of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn is both ethereal and stingingly bluesy in equal measure. They cross over each other with a musical grace and sympathetically provide each other with rhythmic support for some otherworldly soloing. Original, creative, and intensely moving, this is two musicians at the peak of their playing. Danny Thompson and Terry Cox provide a reverberating, deep-toned, and beautifully flowing underpinning. There is musical dexterity of the finest order at work here, which is never flashy, and is completely sympathetic to, and in service of, Charles Mingus’s great composition.

Similarly, the concert standout Pentangling, recorded at The Lyceum in London, clocking in at over eight minutes, will take your breath away. A musical suite, consisting of a series of impressionistic musical sketches, and challenging time signatures, it is very impressively played in this performance. The midpoint double bass and drums solo section is just fabulous, mixing the abstract with exquisite rhythmic touches, and results in rousing audience applause and cheers as the band briefly return to the main theme. The final section takes a radical turn into country and western territory with a jazz lilt, it is pure musical genius.

This then is a box set truly worthy of your attention no matter what form of music you are drawn to. It offers a lens into musical pioneers, who took risks in their music, mixing great songwriting, musical genres, and a natural gift for improvisation, and achieved something very special. Add into the mix, that by the time of these reunions, the musicianship and vocal talents of the band were at a peak in the live setting.

Given that the label for this box set is Cherry Red Records bespoke folk/singer-songwriter imprint, Cherry Tree, the overall presentation is of a very high quality indeed. The artwork is very much in keeping with, and reflective of, the atmosphere Pentangle’s music creates. The information on the recordings is informative and the essay accompanying the set by Mick Houghton is excellent, in its reflections on the band and its legacy, and is written with real warmth and empathy. A very moving and insightful piece of writing from someone who worked with the band.

Watch the video here of a live performance of Train Song from 1971: