Guitarist and producer Shane O’Mara has collaborated with singer Jac Tonks on a tribute to the songs of Bert Jansch – ‘Sorrow Hides The Longing To Be Free’, out this week via Cheersquad Records & Tapes.
The brilliant Bert Jansch pioneered a “folk baroque” style that blended traditional British folk with elements of blues and jazz. His innovative fingerstyle guitar technique was one that redefined the instrument’s role in the 1960s British folk revival.
Long before his passing in 2011, Jansch was famed as an inspiration to acolytes as gifted in their own rights as Paul Simon, Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Donovan, Mike Oldfield, Nick Drake, and Johnny Marr.
Add to that list guitarist virtuoso Shane O’Mara, who, with singer Jac Tonks, channels the great Scottish folk stylist’s lyrical melodies and ethereal chord voicings like an uncanny mist forever suspended beyond the madness of modern times.
With a deft balance of masterful technique and disarming empathy, the duo honours the maestro’s definitive traditional arrangements and songs of passionate longing, like they’ve lived in those same haunted woods all their lives.
“This is a ‘project’ that I’ve been thinking about for many years, that recently became a mission,” explains O’Mara. “I’ve been enamoured with Bert Jansch’s playing, and his band Pentangle. I was recording my cousin Nick & Jac Tonk’s band Amarillo, and after hearing Jac’s voice emanating from the speakers, this sudden realisation came over me: she’d be perfect for the songs. It was a sudden, final inspiration to get this done.”
With visitations from harmony duo Charm of Finches and other occasional erudite guests, Stephen Hadley (double bass), Daniel Faruggia (drums), and Ray Pereira (percussion), Sorrow Hides the Longing to Be Free is an homage not just to an incomparable artist but to a secret well of exquisite melancholy destined to be free.
“This truly was labour of love, an album honouring a musical genius,” O’Mara enthuses. “I wanted to present this music in a somewhat different light… to spread the word… a love letter to my hero… and to present something different that I feel should be heard.”
“A beautiful, beautiful record. Like cool clear water from the deepest well.” Paul Kelly
“Bert’s music can feel ancient yet avuncular: harmonic complexities delivered with tenderness. Tonks and O’Mara’s heavenly matching raises these adored tunes to the sacred yet sensual, as if ghosts have been woken with fresh lusts” Tim Rogers
The album’s track-listing differs across formats, with the black vinyl pressing featuring eight curated tracks from the 14 that will be available on CD and digitally. Both formats are available now from Cheersquad Bandcamp.