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AS HUMAN BEINGS ARE MADE UP OF emotion, intellect, and the physical body, music can be said to consist of melody, harmony, and rhythm. What differentiates people from one another (and one piece of music from another) is the extent to which one of the three dominates the other two. In some Eastem schools of thought, the ideal human state would be an equal balance of the three. While there is no such thing as an "ideal" music (and of course there shouldn't be), melody is the one component that seems most difficult to bring into balance. It is easy for competent musicians to devise infinite varieties of rhythmic and harmonic ideas (oddly enough, these are also the musical area in which computers excel), but inventing memorable and satisfying melodies is extremely difficult.
BESIDES THE FACT THAT THIS RECORDING documents the fortuitous union of two musically intriguing Johns - Reischman and Miller - The Singing Moon is an increasingly rare instance of melody holding its own with harmony and rhythm. This is no small feat; especially when you realize what monstrous groovers the two Johns are and what a sophisticated harmonic sense they each possess. So while these wonderful tunes, inspired by Latin and jazz music, will get your body moving and your brain marveling at the harmonic invention, what really sets this music apart are the melodies. Melodies that will rend your heart, tickle your funny bone, and keep you supplied with plenty of tunes to hum as you stroll down the street on a sunny spring morning. Reischman and Miller have met before as sidemen on a few recording projects but this is the first true meeting of their fertile musical minds. They are both veterans of the acoustic music scene, though they are more often known by their peers as consummate muslclans and innovators than by the general publlc. This recording should change that. Reischman is primarily known for his brilliant improvisations and fat, singlng mandolin tone through his work with the Tony Rice Unit and the Good 0l' Persons, and his mastery of bluegrass jazz, and various Latin styles is well documented on recordings of these groups and his own solo album North of the Border (Rounder 315). He is also an in-demand sideman; his instantly recognizable mandolin style has graced countless albums. He is especially appreciated by singers who value his supportive rhythm, highly melodic improvisations and gorgeous tone. On The Singing Moon, he becomes the singer. These melodies could have no better voice. MILLER PLAYED BASS WITH BLUEGRASS iconoclasts Country Cooking in the early '70s and went on to record a series of albums on Blue Goose and Rounder that explored his interest in country blues and show tunes. These hard-to-find discs are revered by fingerstyle aficionados (and anyone else who has had the good fortune to hear them) as classics. For the last two decades, Miller has primarily confined his musical activities to the Pacific Northwest, performing with a number of intriguing acoustic ensembles and backing singers with his unique, propulsive, harmonically deft fingerstyle guitar playing. During that time he refined his harmonic sensibility and wrote a batch of brilliant instrumental tunes that is just waiting to be exploited by modern instrumentalists. The pieces recorded here are some of Miller's best, but they are just the tip of a gleaming iceberg. In addition, when accompanied by supportive cohorts such as Reischman, Miller has begun improvising single-note lines, bringing the same sense of harmonic sophistication and melodic fluidity to his improvisations that characterize his rich accompaniments. WHILE MANY OF THE PIECES on The Singing Moon are inspired by Latin music, they are far from being slavish imitations - rather, they defme their own territory. For instance, what kind of music is "Hero's Welcome"? I have no idea. It could just as easily have begun life as an Appalachian clawhammer banjo tune or a South American carnival anthem. Whatever kind of music you want to call it, Reischman and Miller have crafted an exquisite album that I am not loaning to my friends. Get your own copy. Scott Nygaard