John Reischman & John Miller
| SEE Magazine Copyright © 1999. All Rights ReservedMusic Jazz Preview BY JERRY OZIPKO John Reischman and John Miller Yardbird Suite Saturday, April 17Their initial meeting may have happened by chance (both musicians were on staff at a music camp in 1986), but ever since Vancouver mandolinist John Reischman and Seattle guitarist John Miller got together to perform and record, the results have been almost magical.Essentially a self-taught mandolinist who started out on guitar, Reischman has been known for much of his career as an acoustic player in primarily traditional folk and bluegrass idioms, establishing himself as a progressive stylist with such groups as Good Ol’ Persons and the Tony Rice Unit, both based out of San Francisco. He has also done session work and recordings with the likes of Scott Nygaard, Kate McKenzie and Susan Crowe. David Grisman has lauded him as “one of the great unsung heroes of contemporary mandolin playing.” During a recent interview, Reischman listed some of his musical influences. “Sam Bush was a big influence; David Grisman; Jethro Burns for jazz, initially – he was one of the few jazz mandolinists. And then Bill Monroe, who developed bluegrass music.” Reischman still explores the bluegrass realm and will soon release a solo CD of original bluegrass compositions. But jazz also represents a large portion of his work, as indicated by his appearance Saturday, April 17 at the Yardbird (10203-86 Ave.) with Miller. Miller got his start as an electric bassist for the New York-based group Country Cooking – featuring Tony Trischka, Andy Statman and Russ Barenburg – which redefined bluegrass during the early 1970s. More recently, he joined Seattle jazz trio Catwalk. John Fahey has called Miller’s unique finger style, settled in a Latin-jazz genre, as “so good it’s scary.” Reischman and Miller’s recent collaborations developed out of their mutual love of jazz and Latin-based music. Their CD, The Singing Moon, on Corvus Records, was released last summer and comprises music of that blended ilk. Both musicians are strong melodists. In fact, Miller once lamented that “I have a hunch that we’re suffering from a severe case of melodic deprivation in America today.” On the album, the two interweave tuneful melodies with clever, sometimes startling and creative harmonies. The totally acoustic sound of their blended instruments is at times compelling and, at others, seductive. Of the 10 selections on the disk, seven are original works by Miller, two by Reischman and one by Brazilian composer/mandolinist Jacob Bittencourt. “The harmony usually sets off the melody, for sure,” Reischman agreed. “In bluegrass, or a lot of other music, it’s the melody which is improvised. The lead instruments are improvising and the accompaniment stays pretty static. (However), in Irish music, the melody is what really stays more static and then the accompanists have these creative voicings that really set it off.” Whenever Reischman takes the lead, his tone has a full, singing quality about it, drawing you right into the music. The accompanying harmonies and rhythms are inventive and sometimes quite complex. Miller’s fluid improvised single-note lines, likewise, invite similarly sophisticated harmonizations and rhythmic riffs from his partner. The Reischman/Miller duo’s performance Saturday will feature music from The Singing Moon, as well as other collaborations and a few jazz standards. |