(Nonesuch 2004)

Viktor Krauss - bass, electric guitar, vocals
Jerry Douglas - slide guitars
Bill Frisell - electric and acoustic guitars
Steve Jordan - drums
Alison Krauss - vocals, viola

1. For a Good Time
2. Far From Enough
3. Overcast
4. Tended
5. Philo
6. Big Log
7. Playground
8. Grit Lap
9. Sunday Afternoon Man
10. Side Street
11. Here To Be Me
12. Split Window

produced by Lee Townsend

recorded and mixed by: Jason Lehning
recorded at Sound Emporium and Brown Cloud, Nashville
assistant engineer: Adam Munoz
mastered by Greg Calbi at Sterling Sound

REVIEWS

BOSTON GLOBE
Solo albums by sidemen are notoriously hodgepodge affairs. Not so with Viktor Krauss's debut. Krauss has helped Lyle Lovett, Bill Frisell, Elvis Costello, the Cox Family, and dozens more redefine bluegrass, jazz, rock, and Americana styles. Now the bassist-composer brother of Grammy-laden singer Alison Krauss has his own all-star band and his own shimmering gem of a CD. The largely instrumental album's modern roots-music hybrids and wide-open sound yield some of the dreamiest passages since Daniel Lanois's 1989 classic "Acadie." As he has for countless others, Krauss contributes the intuitive craft and resonant beauty of his upright bass work. And as bandleader, he balances a melodic ease with the roughened grind of funky chops, pushing his crack crew -- guitarist Frisell, drummer Steve Jordan, dobro master Jerry Douglas on steel guitars, and violist Alison breathing wordless vocals -- in textured interplay. Though Krauss includes a chilling version of Robert Plant's "Big Log" (sung by Alison), cites AC/DC for inspiring "Tended," and pushes the fusionoid funk envelope on "Here to Be Me," his CD is more darkly evocative than raucous. But it would be a mistake to relegate this movieless soundtrack to background music -- its subtlety is gorgeous. - by Tristram Lozaw

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR)
Viktor Krauss’ work on acoustic bass is steady, sympathetic and tasteful…. Structure is his thing, and feel. And he provides the bedrock on which the music is built. On "Far From Enough," his debut as a leader, Krauss displays the kind of skill for which he's admired. He locks in with drummer Steve Jordan to permit guitarists Bill Frisell and Jerry Douglas to play off each other's fragile lines, to look for the hidden corners in his compositions. And when the music goes up-tempo, his playing is sturdy enough to let the guitarists explore.

I bet that singers love to work with Krauss. His sensibility is such that he leads them gently from chord to chord with his warm and unobtrusive style. His sister, the popular singer Alison Krauss, benefits here from that kind of support on their version of Robert Plant's "Big Log."

How can you qualify what Viktor Krauss does here? I mean, there's no flash, no pyrotechnics. He merely does what needs to be done, steadying the music, uplifting it, bringing the players together, allowing them to go where they need to. Such a mature approach, such generosity, creates an environment in which creativity thrives. And it does abundantly so on Krauss' debut. - By Jim Fusilli

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