Bert Jansch, the legendary Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle, has died aged 67 after a battle with cancer. He passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning (5th October 2011) at a hospice in north London.
Born in Glasgow, Jansch first rose to prominence as an innovative acoustic guitarist in the 1960's - he went on to record over 25 albums and influence the likes of Johnny Marr, Paul Simon and Neil Young. Following the release of his early solo albums, Jansch formed folk rock band Pentangle with John Renbourn, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox and Jacqui Mcshee on vocals. The group enjoyed commercial success, firstly with their eponymous debut LP, but also with the follow up 'Basket of Light', which featured hit single 'Light Flight'. After departing the group in 1973, Jansch returned to making solo albums and soon released the orchestral 'Moonshine' featuring a wealth of guest musicians, including Mary Visconti and the revered double bassist Danny Thompson. During an interview with music journalist Paul Morley, Johnny Marr spoke of Jansch's enduring influence on his own guitar playing, "Bert Jansch as a player.is actually quite violent. There's so much attack. It's true that Bert - on a day to day basis playing the same song - he will never play it the same way", adding, "There's a rebelliousness to it too, on an acoustic, which is really killer".
Jansch, who cancelled a September show in Edinburgh through illness, released his last studio album, 'The Black Swan', in 2006 - the record received positive reviews from critics.