AllMusic Review by James Christopher Monger [-]
At once bucolic and urbane, Jansch's 12th studio long player (originally released in 1979 and reissued in 2015) is rated among the guitar legend's personal favorites. It's easy to see why, as it splits the difference between the tenacious progressivism of his early, post-Pentangle offerings and the stateliness of his later work. Working with ex-Dando Shaft multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins, with whom he had spent much of the previous year touring Scandinavia as a duo, and bolstered by ex-Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson, Jansch's signature amalgam of traditional English folk and American blues and jazz has never sounded more fluid. As the all-instrumental set's long-legged wetlands bird-inspired title would suggest, Avocet's avian theme looms large over the proceedings. The nearly 20-minute title opener/title track, which uses the oft-covered English folk song "The Cuckoo" as its base of operations, serves as the centerpiece, and what an impressive piece it is; skillfully weaving in and out of folk and jazz motifs like waterstriders on a placid country pond, with occasional bursts of free-form riffing that erupt like the violent leap of a hungry fish. The plucky "Kingfisher" sees Jenkins' brassy violin playing cat and mouse with Jansch and Thompson's percussive picking, while the simple yet somber piano-driven "Lapwing" and the sprightly closer "Kittiwake" present opposite ends of the pastoral landscapes that Jansch, Jenkins, and Thompson manage to so effortlessly invoke throughout the LP's perfectly balanced, just-under-40-minute runtime. Like his wizardly six-string contemporary John Renbourn, Jansch was a mercurial figure who was often at odds with both himself and the world around him. However, Avocet presents an entirely different picture. It's knotty, beguiling, playful, and occasionally brazen, but ultimately light as a feather.
Avocet is the twelfth album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1979 in UK. The album was first released by Ex Libris in Denmark in late 1978 with alternate album cover and one alternate track title, although no difference in recorded content. The title track "Avocet" was inspired by the traditional song "The Cuckoo". All tracks on the album are named after a sea bird or wading bird.
Bert Jansch guitar, piano Martin Jenkins mandocello, violin, flute Danny Thompson bass
All tracks composed by Bert Jansch; except where indicated (All the tracks on this album are instrumentals)
Side 1 Avocet - 00:01 Side 2 Lapwing - 18:00 Bittern - 19:30 Kingfisher- 27:00 Osprey (Martin Jenkins) 30:00 Gold finch (Bert Jansch) 33:00
Released February 1979 in UK; 1978 in Denmark Recorded February 1978 at Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen Genre Folk
Label Charisma Producer Bert Jansch
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