Up In The Woods CD

John Reischman As one of the acoustic music world’s top-ranked mandolin players and composers, veteran artist John Reischman is renowned for his exquisite taste, tone and impeccable musicianship.His mastery of the instrument is showcased today in two primary musical outlets - the powerful bluegrass band John Reischman and the Jaybirds, and his Latin/jazz instrumental duo with highly-regarded acoustic guitar stylist John Miller.The Jaybirds’ second album Field Guide (Corvus/Copper Creek) was nominated for Canada’s highest music award, the Juno, in the Roots and Traditional Group category for 2002.Critics are effusive in their praise of the stellar follow to the band’s debut album John Reischman and the Jaybirds (Corvus/Copper Creek) and John’s 1999 tour-de-force bluegrass instrumental album, Up In the Woods (Corvus). “As usual, the Jaybirds’ musicianship is first-rate throughout this CD, one of the best Field Guides to bluegrass and old-time music you’ll find anywhere,” enthused Canada’s folk/roots magazine Penguin Eggs.The Vancouver Province newspaper termed Field Guide a “seamless” effort in a rare 4-1/2- star review; the Vancouver Sun said John “plays the mandolin like nobody’s business” in a 4-star review noting “the musicianship is first-class throughout; there isn’t a weak track on the entire record.” His dazzling choro-flavoured instrumental work with John Miller, culminating in their second album The Bumpy Road (Corvus) in 2002 also draws much praise from fans and music critics alike.“Mandolinist Reischman, in particular, possesses phenomenal tone . . . guitarist Miller matches him note for note with slippery leads and sophisticated chords on his Martin,” Vancouver’s Georgia Straight magazine said of the duo’s debut album The Singing Moon (Corvus).Born in Ukiah, California in 1955, John first played guitar at age 12, exploring fingerpicking and blues styles before discovering the mandolin at age 17. Drawing inspiration from the playing of bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe and new acoustic mandolin pioneers Frank Wakefield, Sam Bush, Andy Statman and David Grisman, John was also influenced by his exposure to the hot swing of guitarist Django Reinhardt and jazz mandolin of pioneers Jethro Burns and Tiny Moore.John’s synthesis of this wide range of genres was honed over more than two decades of performing beginning in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s.As an original member of the legendary Tony Rice Unit, John helped to define the “new acoustic” instrumental scene in the early 1980s with appearances on the band’s groundbreaking Rounder albums Still Inside and Backwaters.He cemented his reputation touring and recording for many years with the Bay Area’s eclectic Good Ol’ Persons before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia in the early 1990s to pursue a solo career.John’s debut solo album, North of the Border (Rounder) highlighted his musical depth and composing skills in a variety of acoustic settings that Bluegrass Unlimited magazine called “monumental . . . it establishes a remarkably high standard for mature, tasteful mandolin music.”Through the years John’s distinctive signature has graced a long list of impressive recordings by other top artists including bassist Todd Phillips’ 1996 Grammy winner True Life Blues: The Music of Bill Monroe (Sugar Hill).The following year John played on vocalist Kate MacKenzie’s Grammy-nominated The Age of Innocence (Red House) and his long collaboration with outstanding Canadian singer-songwriter Susan Crowe includes her Juno-nominated album This Far From Home (Corvus).In 1999 John teamed with Nashville mandolinist Butch Baldassari and celtic guitarist Robin Bullock to produce Travellers (SoundArt), a unique instrumental adventure covering bluegrass, celtic, folk and Latin territory.Other studio work includes appearances on albums by guitarist Scott Nygaard, banjo wizard Tony Furtado, and Bay Area singer-s