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Good stuff: New mark knopfler/emmylou harris CD
The new duets disc from Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris is called “All the Roadrunning,” just out.
Some pairings feel so natural and so right that you wonder they took so long to get around to the matchup; as it turns out, Knopfler and Harris have known for a long time that they should be playing together, recording the 12 duets here over the last seven years, whenever schedules would allow — they just happened to get around to sharing the results with us.
Thank goodness the time for that has arrived. This is one of those wonderful albums that makes the most of its talents, brings out the best in both sides and displays hidden aspects of each half that only seem apparent in relation to the other — you know, the general definition of musical soulmates.
The match doesn’t just come in the blending of their dissimilar, but well-suited, voices as much as in hearing Harris’ perfect vocals snuggling inside the warm embrace of Knopfler’s guitar playing.
Musically, they’re closer to Harris’ terrain — quiet, pretty country-folk and soft roots-rock, though Knopfler feels at home there, too. She brings out a gentleness in his singing that shows his voice to have more music to it than he often displays in his own work; he provides a solid midtempo song framework that gives her a chance to sass and strut.
They’re both of an age and experience level where we might not have expected to get many surprises from either, but “Roadrunning” provides new delights and insights on nearly every track. “I dug up a diamond, rare and fine … I dug up a diamond in a deep dark mine,â€? they sing plaintively together here. “Maybe once in a lifetime, you hold one in your hand….â€? They may as well be singing of themselves, and of this gem of a work.
Grade: A
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