THE JOHN RENBOURN GROUP: THE ENCHANTED GARDEN

By this point in the extended PENTANGLE and British Isles folk rock story, I'm not sure what any additional effort by the "Renbourn-McShee and friends" collaboration could accomplish that had not been achieved more convincingly by earlier iterations of themselves or others. If they were true to their art (and I have no reason to suspect otherwise) in the trademark precise arrangements of "The Truth from Above" or "The Maid on the Shore", they couldn't match the the analogous works of STEELEYE SPAN who at least seemed partially inebriated by the joys of their craft, or the persistently evolving explorations of CLANNAD for whom they were clearly idols.

This second and thankfully final JOHN RENBOURN group studio album unwittingly establishes his unencumbered solo work as the state of the art from the family tree circa 1980. To be clear, there's nothing specifically wrong here other than my personal preference for vivacity and a modicum of emotion in this early music style, but there isn't anything terribly right about it either. If pressed, I will backpedal and admit that the tabla of Keshav Sathe helps upgrade "Le Tambourin", "Douce Dame Jolie", and the almost fascinating raga closer "Sidi Brahim" to the higher floors if not the rooftop deck, allowing this review to escape complete disenchantment and maybe even the ire of the Renbourn faithful.

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