London saw a new John Martyn on Monday night at the Rainbow. He seemed to have brought his highly original echoplexed approach to the guitar under control after the pit of self-indulgence he fell into about 18 months ago,
We might have been warned of some of the problems the evening had in store when John Martyn's long-serving accompanist, the double bass player Danny Thompson, stepped on stage for a brief solo spot.
At first glance, it would appear that John Martyn has been lying dormant over the past couple of years, considering that his last studio work was back in 1975 (in those glorious times when we had free festivals and punks were peculiarities who got sand kicked in their faces!). First glances, though, are invariably deceptive and you can rest assured that the dependable Martyn has been his usual busy and creative self. Granted, he disappeared to Jamaica for the best part of 1976 but, far from being a holiday, this venture can best be described as a 'sabbatical period' during which he spent some time playing with Burning Spear and was introduced to the legendary Reggae producer Lee Perry, with whom he worked for a while.
I once worked with two Glasgow tilers who in between laying the tiles that were their livelihood, would lay a joke or two on me. In the first week I found the jokes clever but never funny and would return to mixing the cement with water and hate.
GOOD TIME AT MAYNE HALL
Few people see the ashes of total and utter chaos from which the phoenix that is a concert arises. On Sunday, 21st August I was privileged enough to witness this miracle. The concert was the Jansch / Martyn configuration with the local support of Dodsworth and Sullivan.
The 400-odd people at the Bert Jansch/ John Martyn concerts at the Canberra Theatre on Monday night was considering the performers' relative obscurity in Australia, a good turnout.
One World is a John Martyn song. New, profound, powerful, impassioned, intense.
Dressed in a black vest and blue shirt, a small gold earring shining through his wet, curly hair, Martyn is a convincing acoustic guitar gypsy.
In concert with Mose Allison Thursday night at the Jazz Workshop. Allison only continuing through Sunday.
