... I FIRST heard Bert Jansch- what was it, 30 years ago?- at a folk club run by that notable pioneer Bruce Dunnet, held, if memory serves, at a Soho pub, possibly the Intrepid Fox or the Round House. His commitment to tradition al song was startling then and still is for after forays with the well-remembered Pentangle and other groupings on his Run River release The Ornament Tree(RRA CD 0012) he ...

... Treature Island HILBRE ISLAND MIDSUMMER Actors' interpretation of the Robert Louis Stevenson yarn is a delight in so many respects. The location and set design are positively inspired. Naturalism is taken to its logical conclusion as the action is played on a real island in the Dee estuary, strong footware and a packed lunches recommended. Sharon Ackerboom is a ripping Jim Hawkins, all ...

... nor more than 3 of the preceding answer (thus CONE NEST ESTEEM would be entered as CONESTEEM and the answer to the illustrated clue overlaps the first. This week's clues: State there's parts of more gondolas in Salem? Quite the reverse! (6) Note one left (4) Close approach (4) For twenty years from 1 827 the pioneering headmaster of Rugby (6): More ancient (5) Before, back and forth (3): ...

... DISCDISCDISCDISCDISC FOR students of the musical there is no doubt that the most interesting releases of the summer months has been the four-volume Music from the New York Stage 1890-1920. As each volume consists of fourCDs playing for well over four hours, it can be imagined that it is something of an endurance test, particularly as Volume 1 (Pearl GEMM CDS 9050-2), which takes us up only ...

... Sturm Und Drang/ Brighton Beach Scumbags RIVERSIDE STUDIOS Phil Gibby BERKOFF returns with a double bill which offers all the usual vitriol and above average amounts of sensitivity. The opening piece, Sturm Und Drang, covers much the same ground as the earlier Decadence, but it's more of a postscript than a carbon copy. BerkofT teams up with Timothy Walker an excellent combination to waltz ...

... Olivia's back and different Gaia--Olivia Newton-John COMPILED BY PETER HEPPLE (D Sharp DSH LCD 7017) The Australian-born singer has had more than her share of emotional and health problems in recent years and it is good to see her back and casting off the disco diva status she had in the seventies. The songs are all serf-written and largely inspired by her native land but they are not ...

... Detour Ahead--Gill Manly Parrot PARCD 505 Look through the London jazz list ings each week and there is a fair chance that the name of Gill Manly will crop up once or twice. She has been quietly building her reputation through live work for several years and makes an impressive CD debut, armed with the approval of that most accomplished and underrated of American singers Mark Murphy. Like him, ...

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... Baker's Dozen still rising high The Boss Is Home--Kenny Baker's Dozen Big Bear ESSCD 224 It was back in the early years of the Second World War that Kenny Baker's name first came to the notice of British swing enthusi asts and suffered because of confusion with an American singer who was starring in films at the time. Now the singer is forgotten but our Kenny goes marching on, well into his ...

... The Glamour of the Thirties--Ambrose and his Orchestra Flapper PAST CD 7055 The Ambrose catalogue continues to yield riches from the golden age of British dance bands, and this CD demonstrates the breadth of its repertoire, instru- mentals, including the previously unissued Sid Phillips composition Man About Town, romantic stan dards, sung by Jack Cooper and Sam Browne, and novelty num bers ...

... Just different Bach Goes to Town-- Alec Templeton Flapper PAST CD 7057 Few people can remember, or have even heard of. Alec Templeton, a brilliant blind pianist from south Wales who was discovered by Jack Hylton, given a spot in his big show band, went to the States with him and remained there to become a radio personality before his death in his early fifties. A veritable musical magpie, his ...

... Lehar Operetta--Original Cast Series Pearl GEMM CD 9110 Selections from four of Lehar's operettas which received such acclaim from British audiences between the wars, though The Merry Widow was first seen back in 1907, the three tracks here, featuring artists from the 1923 revival, being actually recorded nearly ten years later. These are a very individual rendering of Maxim's by the Danish ...