The Pentangle

Pentangle
Pentangle performing at the 2007 BBC Folk Awards
Background information
Also known as	Jacqui McShee's Pentangle
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Folk-jazz, folk, folk rock, electric folk, folk baroque
Years active	1968–1973; 1981–present
Labels	Transatlantic Warner Bros./Reprise
Associated acts	The John Renbourn Group
Members	Jacqui McShee Gerry Conway Spencer Cozens Alan Thomson Gary Foote
Past members	Bert Jansch Terry Cox Danny Thompson John Renbourn Mike Piggott Nigel Portman Smith Rod Clements Peter Kirtley Jerry Underwood

Pentangle (or The Pentangle) are a British folk-jazz band with an eclectic mix of folk, jazz, blues and folk rock influences. The original band were active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and a later version have been active since the early 1980s. The original line-up, which was unchanged throughout the band's first incarnation (1967–1973), was: Jacqui McShee, vocals; John Renbourn, vocals and guitar; Bert Jansch, vocals and guitar; Danny Thompson, double bass; and Terry Cox, drums.

The name Pentangle was chosen to represent the five members of the band, and is also the device on Sir Gawain's shield in the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which held a fascination for Renbourn.

In 2007, the original members of the band were reunited to receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and to record a short concert that was broadcast on BBC radio. In June 2008, the band, comprising all five original members, embarked on a twelve-date UK tour.

The original group formed in 1967. Renbourn and Jansch were already popular musicians on the British folk scene, with several solo albums each and a duet LP, Bert and John. Their use of complex inter-dependent guitar parts, referred to as "folk baroque", had become a distinctive characteristic of their music. They also shared a house in St John's Wood, London.

Jacqui McShee had begun as an (unpaid) "floor singer" in several of the London folk clubs, and then, by 1965, ran a folk club at the Red Lion in Sutton, Surrey, establishing a friendship with Jansch and Renbourn when they played there. She sang on Renbourn's Another Monday album and performed with him as a duo, debuting at Les Cousins club in August 1966.