JOHN RENBOURN
Marylebone, London (UK) (1944–2015)"John Renbourn, the Architect of British Folk Fingerstyle, was one of the most influential and respected fingerstyle guitarists. He is widely recognized for his pioneering role in fusing different traditions, from British and American folk (blues and ragtime) to early music, classical and jazz into a unique and sophisticated acoustic guitar style.
Renbourn began playing guitar as a teenager, developing an early interest in the blues of Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis and the British folk revival. By the early 1960s he was making a name for himself on the London folk scene, performing in clubs and honing his fingerstyle technique.
He was a master of creating polyphonic textures on the acoustic guitar, where bass lines, harmonies and melodies moved independently but coherently, giving the impression of multiple instruments.
His touch was incredibly refined and precise, capable of evoking a warm, clear and resonant sound from the guitar.
The turning point came with his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch. Their musical understanding, explored on the album Bert and John (1966), was fundamental to the development of British fingerstyle, characterized by an intricate interplay between two guitars and an in-depth exploration of traditional melodies.
In 1967, Renbourn and Jansch, along with singer Jacqui McShee, bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox, formed Pentangle. This iconic group became a beacon of progressive folk rock.
After Pentangle disbanded in 1972, Renbourn embarked on a solo career as a fingerstyle guitarist, focusing on ancient and medieval music.
John Renbourn was not only a technical virtuoso, but a cultured and sensitive musician whose music pushed the boundaries of fingerstyle, bridging different eras and genres.
SONG: BLUES IN AThis piece perfectly represents John Renbourn's vision: the blues not as a closed genre, but as a living material, capable of dialoguing with early European music, folk, and the modern sensibility of the lead guitarist. It's a piece often studied to understand his style, as it requires controlled touch, independent voices, and great musical maturity."
Video courtesy by GtrWorkShp
I don’t know but John (and indeed Bert) could sometimes disappear a bit inside The Pentangle at times and here a solo piece showing his very great virtuosity, my brother and I saw him very early on play solo in Oxford and I was blown away!
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