Bert Jansch - Live at the 12 Bar

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fine live album

This is a really good recording of one of the great guitarists of the last 50 years.  Recorded in London in 1995, it captures both the excellence of Bert's playing and the atmosphere of a live performance.

This is just Bert and his guitar, and he's brilliant.  A glance at the track list will let you know what to expect: his usual mix of traditional songs (including Blackwater Side, which he pretty well made his own) and more modern, jazzier stuff.  It's all fantastically enjoyable; the guitar work is just miraculous in places – and there are a couple of minor fluffs which I like very much because it's what happens in live performance and gives the whole thing authenticity.  Bert's singing is also really good, in that voice which by any objective measure ought to be terrible but actually sounds wonderful in this repertoire.

The whole thing is excellently recorded and it's a really enjoyable album all round.  Warmly recommended.