WHEN THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN

After hearing so many good things about this album, such as 'this is one of Bert's best albums in years', etc. I have to admit that I was very disappointed by the pedestrian sounding songs on this album from the late acoustic guitar master recorded and released in 1995. Jansch was definitely going through a renaissance as a song writer in the nineties and had written some of the best material for the Pentangle prior to this album. I'm afraid that songs that Pentangle made complete with Jacqui McShee's stellar vocals and emotive delivery just didn't transfer well as Jancsh solo material. That said, I can say is that the better songs on this album are relaxing and pleasant, and the lesser ones are not offensive, just forgettable. The few tracks that stand out are the jazzy Summer Heat, that features some hot guest sax playing and the catchy Just a Dream.

I would highly recommend to those just discovering the genius of Bert Jansch to stick to his late sixties classics (barring his embarrassing pop effort Nicola) and his stellar seventies classics such as Moonshine from 1972, and the exquisite Avocet album from 1979. There are many great Bert Jansch albums worth owning. This is not one.