In November 2023, Bert Jansch would have turned 80. As some of us might comment, where did all that time go? Go back five years, and the Bert Jansch Foundation started a project to celebrate his music and showcase today’s artists who have learned from his work and are taking it into the future.
In addition to the growing number of videos on the Foundation’s YouTube channel, volume 1 of 80 Plays for Bert has been recently released. Much more than a covers album, this celebrates Bert’s music and legacy while also raising funds for the Foundation.
Set up in 2013, the Bert Jansch Foundation embraces the rich heritage of acoustic folk music and celebrates its creativity. Its charitable aims are to support young acoustic musicians with educational and early career opportunities, and it runs workshops, awards grants, and transcribes Bert’s music.
The 80 Plays for Bert journey started in November 2018 and has seen five Yamaha TransAcoustic guitars travelling the world, allowing musicians to salute the legendary guitarist using his favourite instrument. Johnny Marr kicked off the journey, and other artists have included Jacqui McPhee and Mike Pigott, Lankum, Cara Dillon and Sam Wakeman, and Richard Thompson, and, notably for the Foundation, a host of rising stars.
Each artist has played something Bert-inspired – their version of a Bert song or a traditional tune he loved, or it might be a piece they have specially created, inspired by Bert’s music or perhaps his ecological and social concerns. So many musicians wanted to be part of this unique odyssey that five guitars were used in this unique project. Each guitar was given a name: the first after Johnny Marr, and the others named for Beth Orton, Graham Coxon, Steve Pilgrim, plus a Wildcard.
The album is curated by BJF Associate Artist Sam Grassie, who features twice, solo with It Don’t Bother Me and again with fellow Avocet musician Iona Zajac on Blackwaterside. Sam is thrilled that many of the artists have agreed to share their work in aid of the charity: “It was a pleasure listening to the work of over 80 artists in putting this album together, and we hope that the artists featured here represent the breadth and variety of contributors to the project. I am delighted that some artists have offered fresh material, recorded in the studio.”
Indeed, the 13 tracks on this album feature old hands and new names, all with their own story and memories of Bert or reasons how and why they have taken to his music. Dariush Kanani opens with The Wheel, always a favourite of his, “It’s unlike anything I have ever heard in the way of fingerstyle guitar playing”.
Robin Adams, who plays Blues Run The Game, recalls first hearing Bert. He was around 19 and immediately reached for his guitar to learn One for Jo, Needle of Death and Strolling Down the Highway. “I couldn’t get enough. Bert’s ability to tap into timeless streams of tradition, blues and folk while sounding like nobody but himself still amazes me.”
In fact, as Ben Walker, who plays his own composition, Bert’s Blues, says, it is difficult being a folk musician “without feeling the connection to Bert Jansch”. Another homage piece is One for Bert, written and performed by Mike Walker. Mike recalls, “Bert used to like to compose by just communing with the guitar and then working and re-working/re-voicing the ideas that flowed out. So, I have tried to use that process for this track. The result is a bit old school and is a nod to the early Bert/John/Pentangle days. I have called it ‘One for Bert’ and I hope it will resonate with Bert fans”.
I’d say that it’s a given that this whole album will resonate with Bert fans and beyond. You can never get enough of the man and his music, and it’s good to know that his memory and legacy are being well cared for.