The Essential: The Best Of John Renbourn

John Renbourn (born August 8, 1944, Marylebone, North London, England),著名英国民谣艺术家,吉他手,英国著名民谣乐队Pentangle(之前我都发过了)两大吉他手之一,另一位就是有名的Bert Jansch,在乐队成立之前他们两人已在民歌界确立了地位，他们的原声音乐传统很适合于60年代末期的摇滚风潮和迷幻音乐，因而他们的大部分乐迷都是摇滚乐迷。乐队以旋律动人著称，融合传统民歌，布鲁斯，爵士，流行和老摇滚的再创造，而且同一作品中也会融入不同的风格。 Guitarist John Renbourn is one of the fathers of contemporary British folk music and is one of the finest fingerstyle players in the world. A founder of the seminal group Pentangle, Renbourn's music fuses British and Celtic folk with blues, jazz, British early music, classic guitar and Eastern styles. Born and raised in Torquay, England, Renbourn began playing guitar as a teen. At first he was into skiffle, a style that became popular as the a folk music revival was beginning. An instructional book, How to Play Guitar by Rory McKuen, introduced Renbourn to the music of many American folk artists and he began to research them. In 1964, he began studying classical guitar at the George Abbot School in Guildford. Two years later he was playing folk music in Soho where he met many other musicians, including Paul Simon, Davey Graham and most importantly, Bert Jansch, a guitar player whom Renbourn greatly admired. Renbourn and Jansch were roommates for a while; during impromptu sessions they noticed how much in synch they were and how easy it was to play together. Both men had fledgling recording careers at the time. Renbourn performed on Jansch's second album and afterward they teamed up formally to record Bert and John. In 1967 the two founded Pentangle and remained together through 1978. Renbourn, as with the other group members, continued to release such solo albums as The Hermit and The Black Balloon. He formed the John Renbourn Group in the '80s and began adding an East Indian percussion and jazz woodwinds to his music. Around the mid-'80s, he teamed up with guitarist Stefan Grossman and embarked upon a series of world tours. The two also recorded a few albums before Renbourn went on to found the ensemble Ship of Fools and play music with a stronger Celtic influence. He continues to tour alone and with other guitarists including Grossman, Larry Coryell and Isaac Guillory. He also occasionally reunites with Jansch and sometimes tours with Scottish storyteller Robin Williamson.