Bert still is a power in the land. I saw him twice in 2004 in London, at the Jazz Cafe Camden and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and he gigs again regularly in many parts of the UK and Ireland. His playing is still superb and his singing voice is still compelling. He mixes new songs with the older ones that many people still need to hear. Most of all his presence is as relaxed, self-effacing and completely convincing on a personal level as it was when I first saw him in 1968. Most of his back catalogue is now available on CD. If you haven't heard his music before then get 'Dazzling Stranger' which is a 2CD compendium. His website at www.bertjansch.com is a good source of general info. His biography (also 'Dazzling Stranger') by Colin Harper is useful, but is a rather mixed effort based too much on back cuttings from the music press and doesn't do him justice. You'll find tabs for many of his songs on the web, but beware - most are wrong! Bert is extremely generous in including other musicians in his sets - but if only he would pass on his knowledge and style to the rest of us in some sort of recorded masterclass ...!
|