Essential Alison Krauss

Personnel: Alison Krauss (vocals, baritone, fiddle, viola); Ron Block (tenor, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo); Ron Black (tenor, banjo); Barry Bales (tenor, acoustic bass, electric bass); Sidney Cox (tenor); Dan Tyminski (baritone, guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin); Suzanne Cox (baritone); Tim Stafford, Tony Rice (guitar); Pat Bergeson, T-Bone Burnett (acoustic guitar); Marc Ribot (electric guitar, banjo); Jerry Douglas (lap steel guitar, dobro); Adam Steffey, Sam Bush (mandolin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Gordon Mole, Pete Wasner (piano); Viktor Krauss, Dennis Crouch (acoustic bass); Jim Keltner, Larry Atamanuik, Jay Bellerose (drums).
Audio Mixers: Gary Paczosa; Mike Piersante; Richard Adler .
Photographer: Randee St. Nicholas.
The 14 tracks that make up Rounder's Essential Alison Krauss were handpicked by the artist herself. A successful performer since the age of 14, Krauss had quite the well to draw from, and Essential does a nice job giving listeners a cupful from each stage in her career, from the spirited, traditional bluegrass that propelled her into the spotlight in the late '80s to her genre-bending work with ex-Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant in the late 2000s. While by no means an exhaustive study of the artist, Essential Alison Krauss offers a tidy, compact summation of the talented singer/fiddler's career to date. ~ James Christopher Monger