Search - John Reischman :: North of the Border

Thrilling instrumental delight.....diverse and flawlessly pl

J. Ross | Roseburg, OR USA | 10/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Playing Time - 40:22 -- Mandolin tonemaster John Reischman's highly-acclaimed 1993 solo album on the Rounder label highlights his musical depth and composing skills in a variety of acoustic settings. In fact, this album may be the best of all his releases to gain an appreciation for John's great diversity and comfort in many genres of music from bluegrass, Latin and jazz. We are also treated to five of his own originals. About his own original instrumentals, John once told me that plenty come from just noodling around on the mandolin. He might decide on a particular type of tune to write, and the key to get started. He often ends up with something different than intended. For example, he started "Big Bug" as a Monroe style blues in E. He worked on it a long time, and it ended up as a breakdown with more notes in the melody. Several composed while walking and just humming a tune have resulted in his strongest, melodically speaking. Like beautiful rays of sunlight in one's backyard on a pretty spring day, John Resichman plays clear, tuneful music without distractions.



"North of the Border" includes a cross section of styles, but his primary accompanists are eleven top acoustic players such as Todd Phillips (bass), Scott Nygaard (guitar), Tony Trischka (banjo), Byron Berline (fiddle), Sally Van Meter (dobro), and Rob Ickes (dobro). While every cut is strong, it's interesting that the trios with John, Scott and Todd actually convey some of the most powerful chemistry. These include the songs "Brooks" and "You'd be so Nice to Come Home To." The largest ensemble used is basically a quintet for five cuts that keeps the mandolin front and center around the other instruments.



A thrilling instrumental delight, "North of the Border" is a majestic album. Delightfully diverse and flawlessly played, the music covers all four bases - for shrewdness, subtlety, skillfulness and sophistication. Thus, "North of the Border" hits a homerun. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

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