Folk-rock maestro’s idiosyncratic path takes him to Baghdad and beyond

British guitarist and Uncut favourite Richard Thompson to play

Back in 1999, Richard Thompson was asked to name his 10 greatest tunes of the millennium. He took the request at face value and came up with a list that started with "Sumer Is Icumen In" from the 11th century and carried on through to Jerry Lee Lewis. From there came the idea of expanding the list to a couple of dozen songs and recording them live in concert.