We would never claim Jimmy Page to be an angel (actually, we have gotta give the man some credit for having impeccable taste) but, though innovative as he was in some regards, he cribbed notes wholesale time and time again. It has become a known fact that if Page snakes your action you must be something special. This may be some consolation to Bert Jansch but more consolation would come in the form of official credit for writing Zep’s “Black Mountain Side” (and possibly “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” too). Page may have been the most obvious of admirers but many others have looked to Jansch for inspiration, among them, Neil Young, Nick Drake, Donovan, Johnny Marr, Beth Orton, and many new followers like Devendra Banhart and Espers. No matter who cops his moves, Bert Jansch is something special and something many more people will get the chance to figure out over the next few months. The revered guitarist will be touring this summer and has had a hand in reissuing three of his past masters which are due in a couple of weeks.
The tour will take Jansch all over the U.S., into Canada, and even close enough to this writer’s cardboard hovel to get hands sh-sh-shaking in anticipation of witnessing a rare live appearance by the venerable solo artist/Pentangle legend. Nearly half of the North American dates have support from Alasdair Roberts, who also knows a thing or two about commanding an audience's attention with his own folksome ways.
Dates:
06.08.09 - London, England - Jazz Café
06.26.09 - Albuquerque, NM - The Cooperage
06.28.09 - Denver, CO - Swallow Hill
07.01.09 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
07.02.09 - Seattle, WA - Triple Door
07.03.09 - Vancouver, BC - Richard's on Richards
07.04.09 - Victoria, BC - Conservatory of Music
07.06.09 - Anchorage, AK - University of Alaska
07.08.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Largo
07.10.09 - Santa Cruz, CA - Don Quixote's
07.12.09 - San Francisco, CA - Café du Nord
07.13.09 - Portland, ME - The Space
08.03.09 - Montréal, QC - La Sala Rossa #
08.05.09 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern #
08.07.09 - Pittsburgh, PA - The Warhol #
08.08.09 - Columbus, OH - Wexner Arts #
08.10.09 - Chicago, IL - Martyrs #
08.12.09 - Lexington, KY - The Dame #
08.14.09 - Asheville, NC - Diane Wartham Theatre
08.16.09 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern #
08.19.09 - Alexandria, VA - Birchmere $
08.20.09 - New York, NY - City Winery #
08.21.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's #
08.25.09 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Edinburgh Festival
09.05.09 - Birmingham, England - Moseley Folk Festival
# with Alasdair Roberts
$ with Al Stewart
Jansch's three albums on Charisma -- L.A. Turnaround (1974), Santa Barbara Honeymoon (1975), and A Rare Conundrum (1977) -- will be issued for the first time on CD on June 15 by EMI/Virgin. All three albums have been remastered and include bonus material selected by Jansch, including many unreleased and newly discovered tracks. L.A. Turnaround will be an enhanced disc and includes a previously unseen 13-minute film made around the time of recording which features Jansch monkeying around with Mike Nesmith, Red Rhodes (Nesmith’s pedal steel sidekick), and others. Each album comes with newly penned notes, original artwork, photos, can opener, corkscrew, tweezers, toothpick, and saw.
