John Martyn - In Session At The BBC (2006)

These are the complete sessions that John Martyn recorded for two BBC disc jockeys between 1973 and 1978, and though a few have seen release elsewhere before, the majority are new to CD and a welcome addition to the Martyn canon. There's plenty of electric improvisation here, including "Devil Got My Woman" (really "I'd Rather Be the Devil") and "Inside" (better known as "Inside Out"), which get extensive workouts, and there's a 1978 take on "Small Hours" that ends the disc on a lovely, aching note. In between there's plenty of acoustic music (four tracks with a barely audible Danny Thompson on bass) that trawls through Martyn's work on three classic albums from his golden period. He pulls out some excellent performances, his fingers wonderfully agile, and his voice as deep as the bottom of a bottle of Scotch. This is good enough to be more than a footnote; for Martyn fans it's essential.