One of pop's true originals is the British-bred Martyn, who began his career as something of a ballad-oriented folkie, but by incorporating a spatial jazz into his free-form compositions, settled on a style totally unique to these ears
A '60s English folkie who spent the past decade slowly evolving his music into an eclectic blend of spacey jazz, rock, and folk sounds rooted in mystical imagery, Martyn here makes music of wonderous beauty.
Although he enjoys modest popularity in his native England, John Martyn is hardly a household name in America.
Martyn has just released Grace & Danger. Recorded with Tommy Eyre on keyboards (an original member of Mark-Almond), bassist John Giblin and ex-Genesis member Phil Collins, the album, though it contains frustratingly little acoustic guitar, meanders less than One World and may be as close to Solid Air as Martyn will allow himself to go at this stage.
A strikingly innovative guitarist and imaginative songwriter, John Martyn has been experimenting with improvisation and tonality since his early days on the English folk scene.
Despite a prior track record of eight albums, English singer-songwriter John Martyn is an unfamiliar name to many. If this is ever going to change, One World could be the album to do it.
Put this disc on the player and ask your friend who claims to know music from A to Z to guess who it is.
08 May 1978
John Martyn may be nominally a folk artist, but his music knows no borders.
Like many folksingers in the '60s, John Martyn experimented with a lyrical contemporary chamber music.
John Martyn opened, and his Echoplexed guitar and woozy vocals made for a strange but uniquely experimental warmup act.
