British mod sounds of the 1960s
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Reviews (3)
Folk radio UK
d. 18. Mar. 2021
By
By
Peter Shaw
d. 18. Mar. 2021
"This live album, A Maid in Bremen, punningly captures the John Renbourn Group in full flight in the titular German city a year after A Maid in Bedlam's release ... This really is a snapshot of a band at the peak of their powers. The bulk of the material is traditional. Of the 16 tracks, five are from Bedlam, and two more from their next album, The Enchanted Garden (1980). Four tracks familiar from Pentangle are included (...) but with much-altered arrangements. It's great to hear these songs in fresh settings - offering a dreamy and exotic contrast to the originals. While John Renbourn's vocals have an earthy charm, it's his vision, arrangements and guitar that really shine as the leader of the group. Meanwhile, Jacqui McShee's vocals are cut-glass clear and peerless, with enough space for her to soar alongside the instruments. But the revelation is how well the tabla mixes with not just the group's repertoire but also Renbourn's solo material and the Pentangle songs".
Record collector
518 (2021 May)
By
By
Nick Dalton
518 (2021 May)
"You think you know where you're going with this until track four, when the seemingly respectful folk gives way to a flute-led, tabla-pattering take on Booker T's "Sweet Potato". Guitar virtuoso John Renbourn gave folk a new dimension in Pentangle and does it again here ... The traditional "John Barleycorn" is followed by Furry Lewis' 1920s blues "Turn Your Money Green" (a world away from Pentangle's own live version on 'Sweet Child' a decade earlier), there's an 11-minute Indo-folk instrumental workout on "Sidi Brahim" and a splendidly otherworldly "Kokomo Blues". A mesmerising coming together of sounds and styles throughout an 80-minute set".
Uncut
2021 June
By
By
Nigel Williamson
2021 June
"After Pentangle broke up, Jaqui McShee continued to sing with John Renbourn. And although Bert Jansch was irreplaceable, Tony Roberts on flute/oboe, tabla player Keshav Sathe and cellist Sandy Spencer were called up from the subs' bench so that the JRG were close to the freewheeling spirit of the original famous five ... Four of the 15 songs here are Pentangle standards (...), yet it's the more left-field selections that stand out, including "To Glastonbury", which seems to invent an entirely new genre mixing Renbourn's interest in medieval music with world music elements, and "Sidi Brahem", a thrilling Indo-jazz jam full of shifting time signatures with Renbourn playing raga guitar in the style of the great Davy Graham".