Boston Globe by Tristram Lozaw
| "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." |
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