John Renbourn

John Renbourn, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Another living legend at The Greys: on a wet February night John Renbourn threatened us with 'an evening of celtic misery' but what we got was a delightful mix of folk, blues, jazz, ragtime, the odd ballad from the Borders, and Davy Graham's 'Anji' (or should that be Davey Graham's 'Angie'?). He even raised a wry smile during Mose Allison's [I'm not downhearted, but I'm] 'Getting there'. I last saw John Renbourn in the the late-1960s in Pentangle (I seem to remember sitting at the back of the stage) – watching Folk Britannia on BBC4, they've all changed a bit since then (except Roy Harper, who looks as handsome as ever!). Renbourn too looks a little older, and more portly (don't we all!) than that photo on the cover of the CD he's selling at the interval, but his music is as sublime as ever it was. Just one man in his socks with a Bown guitar, stopping now and then to retune it and tell a story, on the tiny stage of The Greys, with a pint of Harvey's and a chance to see that legendary right hand in action again up close. Bliss!