So who are your faves that you've seen live?
Thinking about it and looking back, I've been bloody lucky over the years for the players I've seen (often in small venues so you get to hear and see the magic).
Ralph McTell- great voice and one of the best and cleanest pickers you'll ever see or hear.
Bert Jansch- saw him a few times. One gig was his 60th Birthday bash at the QEH. Numerous guests including Johnny Marr.
John Renbourn- again a couple of times. He used to do a Spring tour with Robin Williamson.
Bert Jansch and John Renbourn together in Pentangle- I caught their reunion tour twice and they were sublime, as were the whole group of course.
I also saw Danny Thompson play with Richard Thompson.
Pierre Bensusan- seen him a few times. Gorgeous player and all in DADGAD!
Gordon Giltrap- what a great player. Exquisite sense of rhythm. Does it all really- picking, strumming, lead lines, looping. And not being a singer, he really works on the melodies of his songs. A really exemplary player. I actually saw him play at the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia. Most folks go for the beer, but I chose my session to coincide with Gordon's early afternoon slot. This meant I was royally pissed a lot, lot earlier than I used to be, but at least the hangover wasn't as bad next morning.
Martin Carthy- once with Dave Swarbrick, and a couple of solo gigs, including a free gig at Ray's Jazz in Foyle's bookshop, London. Great player, great voice.
I'm going to add Roger McGuinn here when I saw him at the Jazz Cafe in London. Although he mostly played his Rickie 12, he broke an acoustic out for a couple of numbers (I think one was 8 Miles High). Mainly though it was the electric, although it has a sound of its own so it worked really well. He basically played all the Byrds and solo classics. He played the lines exactly as he did for the Byrds, but that Rickie is basically orchestral sounding so you didn't miss a full band behind him. I think he played through a Roland Jazz Chorus. The crowd were doing harmonies as well. Great stuff.
There may be others, but those are the ones I remember the most.
Picking a standout is hard from that list, they're all great players. But I suppose Bert Jansch just about edges it. His voice isn't everyone's cuppa I guess, but it really mellowed with age. For me, it was as affecting as his playing. But with his playing, the rhythms would shift a little bit every few bars- it wasn't straight 4/4. So he'd draw you in and it was always shifting, always keeping you listening. And he had this ability to play really amazing chords or clusters of notes that were really heart rending- like a talented piano player would find.
BTW Martin Carthy's doing an online lockdown gig this Saturday 16th which I'll probably 'attend'.
Comments
I forgot to mention Paco De Lucia. Saw him twice- once in Spain and once at the RFH about ten years later. What a bloody player.
Hmmm. Tough call.
Paco or Bert?
See Paco did this thing as an intro, a solo piece called Mi Nino Curro. It is hairs on the back of the neck stuff.
So the best player I've seen live is Bert de Lucia, closely followed by Paco Jansch.
Check out the Martin Carthy this weekend- you might like it.
Mine's probably Bert Jansch or Richard Thompson.
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
As for "when am I ready?" You'll never be ready. It works in reverse, you become ready by doing it. - pmbomb
Dick Gaughan
I saw a guy called Willy Porter support Rickie Lee Jones. He had the tapping thing going on but also used 2 capos for odd tunings and sang like Sting. He was incredible
Tommy Emmanuel
They toured again in 2001, by which point John’s health was in serious decline. I saw them at the Bridgewater Hall - frankly it wasn’t great.
The other stand out for me is Richard Thompson - he does a pretty much annual acoustic solo show at Gawsworth Hall. He’s consistently brilliant.