John Renbourn

Perhaps the most influential album from one of the true masters of British acoustic guitar. Released in 1968 on Transatlantic, Sir John Alot finds John Renbourn taking a magnificent journey back through time - not as scholarly reconstruction, but as living, breathing music that collapses centuries into a single candle-lit room.

Renbourn (1944-2015) had already established himself as one half of the most formidable guitar duo in any style - his partnership with Bert Jansch yielding the landmark Bert and John (1966) and leading directly to the formation of Pentangle in 1967. While most commonly labelled a folk musician, Renbourn's musical universe encompassed early music, classical, jazz, blues and world music. He studied classical guitar at school, where he was first introduced to medieval and Renaissance repertoire, and this early immersion surfaces magnificently here.

Recorded at Sound Techniques Studio in Chelsea with engineer John Wood, the album features jazzman Ray Warleigh on flute - utterly transformed from his usual idiom - and Terry Cox (Pentangle's drummer) adding spare, luminous touches on finger cymbals, African drums and glockenspiel. The result is unlike anything else from the period: hushed and fragile, light as a flickering flame, yet anchored by Renbourn's astonishing fingerpicking technique - what became known as "folk baroque".

Tracks like "Morgana", "The Trees They Do Grow High", "Sweet Potato" and the sublime "Lady Goes to Church" blend traditional material with original compositions, weaving medieval modes through blues inflections and jazz voicings. The sound production remains stunning decades later - intimate, detailed, capturing every nuance of Renbourn's touch.

As one of the loveliest things you'll encounter in British folk, Sir John Alot is perfect late night listening - music that seems to emanate from some parallel medieval England where Davy Graham and Lead Belly somehow coexist with troubadours and court musicians. Essential for anyone drawn to Pentangle, Bert Jansch, the British folk revival, or simply exquisite acoustic guitar playing.

Japanese mini-LP sleeve edition on high-fidelity SHM-CD with liner notes and Japanese translation..