The Time Has Come [Long Box]

Performer: Pentangle
Artist: David Munrow Ensemble
Producer: Colin Harper (Compilation)
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: Audio Remasterer: Cormac O'Kane. In 2007, when so many neo-folkies owe the hairs of their scruffy beards to Pentangle, it seems both natural that a box set of the band's work should be released and ironic that for much of the period it covers, they were known to relatively few outside the Brit-folk faithful. A wealth of previously unreleased tracks, including concert recordings, BBC sessions, etc. will be the draw for hardcore fans, but it's the cumulative heft of the band's work as a whole that makes THE TIME HAS COME so weighty. When Fairport Convention was still messing around with Joni Mitchell songs, Pentangle were transforming British trad folk via blues, jazz, and raga shadings. Covering the entirety of their initial lifespan, TIME lets you hear the interplay between Bert Jansch and John Renbourn's guitars grow in complexity and telepathy, and the jazzy grooves of Terry Cox and Danny Thompson bend with increasing suppleness to support Jacqui McShee's willowy voice. This handsome anthology does double duty as guided tour and collectors' grab bag.

Uncut (p.82) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "It's an impressive overview of the group's best years....The light snap and twang of Cox and Thompson's rhythm section kept the music aerated but never fluffy." The Wire (p.61) - "40 years on, Pentagular music hasn't dated a chime, pluck, wassail or gurdy....It embodies all of the bold-axis patchwork virtues of its late 60s time." Dirty Linen (p.48) - "It's an amazing mix of traditional ballads, blues, pop, rock oldies, and jazz..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Pentangle's critical move was to cross-pollinate folk with parallel musical forms -- especially jazz."

Along with Fairport Convention, Pentangle is one of the most important bands of the 1960s British folk revival. Drawing on a truly diverse array of sources, Pentangle developed a unique version of folk rock that was both traditional and progressive. The group formed when esteemed solo guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn combined their love of classic American blues and ancient English folk songs with the angelic vocals of Jacqui McShee and the jazz-influenced rhythm section of drummer Terry Cox and bassist Danny Thompson. After breaking up in 1972, they reformed several times with varying line-ups, the most well-known of which playing under the name Jacqui McShee's Pentangle.

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