It's getting so one doesn't actually review a new Bert Jansch so much as comment reverentially on its appearance. Every time I play 'LA Turnaround' or 'Nicola', people ask who *is* that? When I shove 'Avocet' on the turntable, people clamor for a copy. Bert is The Man, and he's back again, tricking us all with his twists and turns and that wickedly simple-seeming style that dissolves instantly when you reach for your own instrument.
His leathery voice continues to fight shy of hitting the precise note but that's his charm and he picks and writes perfectly for it: Jackson C. Frank's 'Carnival', the exquisite title track, 'Toy Balloon' that's tailor-made for the movie theme song of Ian McEwan's "Everlasting Love", if and when it makes celluloid; "She Moved through the Fair" with the familiar Davy Graham-type modal twists and the rhyme that only Bert would come up with: who else would, with a straight face, match, "Oh my young love said to me, my mother won't mind" with "And my father won't slight you for your lack of kine."? God bless the knave.
On the livelier side, it certainly sounds like he's having fun on the statutory rockin' blues tunes, but I've never come to terms with that particular energetic side of BJ's repertoire; is it that his voice isn't quite up to it, or the formulaic harmonica and drums and bland middle-eight instrumental just don't excite? Whatever, listen to the quieter, more melodic tracks and then remind yourself of the earlier goodies like "It Don't Bother Me" or even "Jack Orion", and just marvel and thank Le Bon Dieu that Mr Jansch is still with us and stronger than ever.
