Alison Krauss - Now That I've Found You: Collection - [CD]

Alison is the brightest star to emerge in bluegrass in many a blue moon, and this 12-track collection-which contains highlights from her four albums for Rounder, outside projects and four new cuts-is a great introduction to this great new talent. Includes the single When You Say Nothing at All. A poll-winning fiddler since her teens, Alison Krauss was an established bluegrass star when her label persuaded her to step out from her usual projects with Union Station, her crack band, and sanction this compilation of various band and solo guest performances. The ploy worked, yielding a wonderful, odds-beating crossover hit with Krauss's cover of "Baby, Now That I've Found You", a carousing late 1960s pop chant transformed into a delicate, vulnerable declaration of love. Focusing on Krauss's lovely, yearning soprano, the track elevated the musician above her resolutely democratic role in her quintet, catapulting Krauss to the biggest bluegrass success story in over 30 years. Krauss has stayed true to her roots, as well as to Union Station, but this cross-section of contemporary songs, joyous gospel and canny rock covers testify to the young artist's luminous appeal. --Sam Sutherland