Pentangle

Born in late-1960s London, Pentangle brought together five musicians in 1967 from complementary backgrounds: Jacqui McShee on vocals, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn on guitars, Danny Thompson on double bass and Terry Cox on drums. Pentangle developed a distinctive approach in which British folk, blues, jazz and traditional repertoires intersected without adopting the classic rock format — favoring an acoustic sound, flexible arrangements and a pronounced dialogue between the two guitars. This identity is evident on The Pentangle (1968), Sweet Child (1968) and especially Basket of Light (1969), which contains “Light Flight,” used by the BBC for the series Take Three Girls. In the early 1970s the group continued with Cruel Sister (1970), which focused more on traditional songs, followed by Reflection (1971) and Solomon’s Seal (1972), before splitting in 1973. Pentangle reformed in the early 1980s with several personnel changes; thereafter its story largely continued around Jacqui McShee, who kept the repertoire alive with different line-ups. Reunions of the original lineup also took place in 2008 and 2011, extending the trajectory of a band whose name remains associated with a rare meeting of folk songwriting, jazz freedom and British heritage.