John Martyn: BBC Live In Concert
(Island) * * * *
FANS will know that the only predictable thing about John Martyn is his unpredictability. His live performances can touch the heights, and sometimes just bumble along.
Although his voice occasionally isn't at its best on a couple of songs in these sessions, recorded in Paris and London over a 10-year period 1, there are plenty of good (and now and then great) moments that more than compensate.
What does shine through is Martyn's love of experimenting with new sounds and breaking new ground.
There's a very heavy emphasis on Echoplex over the two discs, for example, which is absolutely fine by those of us that love the stuff from the Bless the Weather to One World era via Solid Air and Inside Out.
sitenotes:
1 Scuze Me, Coz I Cant Read
This review featured in various regional newspapers, like the Enfield Independent and the Daily Echo.