Bert Jansch – Alice’s Wonderland (Song Review)

Many of my favourite instrumentals come from the world of acoustic folk/traditional guitarists. The mid-60s was a golden era for the genre, with many major artists releasing albums of groundbreaking creativity and virtuosity. Today’s pick comes from one of these albums: it’s Alice’s Wonderland from Bert Jansch’s 1965 debut. Recorded live in a kitchen on a borrowed guitar, the lo-fi recording puts you right in the room with Jansch as he picks dreamily through an array of beautiful chords and timings, only settling down briefly for a sublime, swinging vamp. It seems loose and improvised but the repeating passages and the way the chords all lead into one another suggests otherwise. It’s an extraordinary piece from a magical era, musical genius of the most unassuming and laid-back kind.

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