"After Pentangle split in 1973, Bert Jansch returned to his prolific solo career but missed playing in a group context. The Bert Jansch Conundrum came into existence as the 1970s waned. Jansch recorded a solo album called A Rare Conundrum in 1977, with mandolinist Rod Clements and fiddler Mike Piggott as supporting players. When Piggott was unable to go out on a Scandinavian tour, Martin Jerkins hired on to play violin on the dates. They hit it off and Nigel Portman-Smith came aboard to play bass. They toured Europe and America. Bert recalled: “I got to know Martin in that period between the original Pentangle splitting up and the beginning of the eighties. I knew him pretty well and we did a lot of gigs together. At one point we were playing with Rod Clements, who used to be in Lindisfarne and Pick Withers on drums - I seem to remember Mike Piggott was involved as well