The Harmonic Tone Revealers (Corvus 023) is a trio album by guitarist Scott Nygaard, mandolinist John Reischman and Sharon Gilchrist, who plays mandolin and bass. It was released on 1 September 2016. Nygaard and Reischman had played together off and on since the early 1990s, when each played on the other’s debut solo album for Rounder. Gilchrist had worked in the bands of Darol Anger, Peter Rowan, Tony Rice and Laurie Lewis. All twelve tracks are instrumentals, and the three produced and arranged them together.
In his liner note, Nygaard writes that on their earlier records he and Reischman had mostly played their own compositions, but that this time the trio chose traditional and “sounds like traditional” tunes. Many of them come from musicians the three count as heroes, among them Bill Monroe, Clarence and Roland White, Kenny Baker and Doc Watson. The credits name the player behind most of the tunes. “Half Past Four” comes from Ed Haley, “Cousin Sally Brown” from Marcus Martin, “Queen of the Earth, Child of the Stars” from Edden Hammonds and “Little Liza Jane” from J. P. Fraley. “Sail Away Ladies” comes by way of Kenny Baker, “Little Sadie” by way of Doc Watson, “The Girl Who Broke My Heart” from Kevin Burke, and “My True Love Away” from Eliza Carthy and Kate Rusby. “I Am a Pilgrim” nods to Clarence and Roland White. The rest are credited compositions: Monroe’s “My Father’s Footsteps,” Luke Thomasson’s “Midnight on the Water” and Jim Childress’s “The Road to Malvern.”
The album was recorded at Sage Arts in Arlington, Washington, over a few days in November 2015 and a few more in April 2016, with the three sitting in a circle around the microphones. Erick Jaskowiak engineered and mixed it, and David Travers-Smith mastered it. Reischman played his 1924 Gibson F-5 mandolin and two mandolas. Nygaard played a 1956 Martin D-28, switching to a 1948 Gibson J-45 for “My True Love Away.” Gilchrist played bass and her 1991 Gilchrist F-5 mandolin.
Tracklist
- 1 Half Past Four Source Recording 4:03
- 2 Cousin Sally Brown 2:46
- 3 Midnight on the Water Source Recording 5:11
- 4 My Father's Footsteps 3:03
- 5 I Am a Pilgrim alt version 2:32
- 6 The Girl Who Broke My Heart 3:52
- 7 Little Sadie alt version 2:46
- 8 Road to Malvern Source Recording 3:23
- 9 Queen of the Earth, Child of the Stars 3:06
- 10 Sail Away Ladies Source Recording 3:04
- 11 Little Liza Jane alt version 3:01
- 12 My True Love Away 4:30
