Giltrap, Gordon - Janschology


Year of Release: 2000
Label: Lacooka Ratcha Records
Catalog Number: LCVP 124CD
Format: CD
Total Time: 19:04:00

Maybe British guitarist Gordon Giltrap has been underestimated for a long time now. Especially outside of Britain it looks like very few people actually know Gordon. However, Giltrap certainly has to be seen as one of the major acoustic guitar virtuosos coming from England in the last thirty years!

On Janschology Giltrap tells us about his big influence, Bert Jansch. Ever since he bought the Bert Jansch album at the age of seventeen, Gordon has been enormously impressed by the technique and sheer beauty of Jansch?s playing. In order to do justice to his big example come friend, Giltrap has now tackled five tunes made immortal by the great Bert Jansch whilst adding one of his own compositions originally to be found on his Fear Of The Dark album.

Not only did Giltrap have great admiration for Jansch, at one particular point in his career he found himself stablemate to Jansch when he also signed for the Transatlantic label. With not even 20 minutes of total playing time Janschology is indeed a brief introduction into the world of Jansch with "open" production such as in ?The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,? which tells much more than one hundred lyrics combined. ?Angie (Angelina)? has Gordon?s fingers slide over the strings at an enormous speed whilst he also plays the bass notes, sounding as if there were two guitars.

The intro for ?Running From Home? reminds me of Al Di Meola?s ?Land Of The Midnight Sun? what with that repetitive pattern. But then Gordon adds vocals to the whole, turning the song into a fragile story. ?Chambertin? sounds like musical lace with Giltrap strumming all of the strings so as to complement each other.

?Blackwaterside? is probably the closest to the real Jansch style, as I remember that type of playing rather well, having been impressed by it myself when I listened to some "old" Jansch vinyl years ago. The guitar sound is like the washing of the water: coming on strong then taking the last drops of water back to the sea. With ?Roots? Giltrap tries to illustrate how much the Jansch style has affected his own way of playing. The addition of percussive elements adds an extra dimension to the pure guitar which is the genius of Giltrap.

Janschology is a nice little album, but then again it is a "little" album because of the short playing time. Maybe Gordon should have contacted Bert Jansch himself to ask whether at all he would be interested in collaborating on a couple of newly written duets. Maybe he should have taken the trouble into creating a long Bert Jansch "suite" where he could incorporate all of the major influences. Maybe ? next time?

Released in conjunction with Voiceprint


Tracklisting:
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (2:51) / Angie (Angelina) (2:46) / Running From Home (3:27) / Chambertin (2:10) / Blackwaterside (2:21) / Roots (6:09)

Musicians:
Gordon Giltrap - guitars

Discography:
Gordon Giltrap (1968)
Portrait (1969)
Accolade (1970)
A Testament Of Time (1971/2005)
Giltrap (1973)
Visionary (1976/1999)
Perilous Journey (1977/1999)
Fear Of The Dark (1978/1999)
Performance (1980)
Peacock Party (1981/1990/2000)
The Platinum Collection (1981)
Gordon Giltrap Live (1981)
Airwaves (1982/2000)
Elegy (1982/2000)
A Midnight Clear (1987/2000)
One To One (1989)
Guitarist (1990)
The Eye Of The Wind (1991)
The Best Of Gordon Giltrap (1991)
Elegy/Perilous Journey (1991)
Visonary/Fear OF The Dark (1991)
The Solo Album (1992/2000)
On A Summer's Night - Gordon Giltrap Live (1992/2000)
Gordon Giltrap/Portrait (1993)
Gordon Giltrap Live At The BBC (1995)
Music For The Small Screen (1995/2000)
The Brotherhood Suite (1995)
Troubadour (1998)
Part Of The Picture (2000)
Janschology (2000)
Live At Oxford (2000)
Collection (2001)
Troubador (2001) (2CD version)
Under This Blue Sky (2002)
Giltrap And Taylor (2002)
Fingers Of Fire (2002)
The Band Live 1981 (2003)
Remember This (2003)
The Gathering (2003)
Live At Ambergate (2004)
The River Sessions (2004)
Double Vision (2004)
Drifter (2004)

Genre: Other

Origin UK

Added: November 1st 2000
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.giltrap.co.uk
Hits: 2723
Language: english

  

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