Alison Krauss Brings Breezy Night of Bluegrass to Jazz Fest

Photos by Renee Doiron

What an easy, breezy, beautiful night of bluegrass at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival and well, welly, well, well, well wasn’t that a contrast from the country pop flood inside the Canadian Tire Centre the night before. On the country music spectrum, jazz fest headliner Alison Krauss is so far removed from Shania Twain you could park a couple thousand aircraft carriers between them.

Hey bluegrass fans, the sun was getting real low and Krauss complimented the pastel sunset with her angelic voice and sweet, sweet fiddle. It was the kind of music that made me want to unfurl a checkered blanket and have a picnic under a willow tree. That or nestle by a crackling fire and equally crackling old timey radio swaddled in great grandmother’s quilt. Either way, these scenes are painted in shades of sepia and Krauss is the soundtrack.

“We’re used to playing bluegrass festivals,” chirped Krauss as she introduced a backing band that included members from Union Station and The Cox Family. “Well, what a beautiful night for it.”

That it was, one gorgeous evening wedged between a weekend of rain and a coming Canada Day heat wave. While the previous evening’s Chaka Khan show ensured the dancing area was all a bustle, this nights festival goers settled in for a mellower mood. You know, the kind of night where a little fiddle, a front porch and a rocking chair is all you really need.The show drew much of its 22-song set from Krauss’ recent release, Windy City, her first solo album in nearly 20 years. The album dips deeply into the well of country music classics and features 10 covers by artists like Bill Monroe, The Osborne Brothers, Glen Campbell and Willie Nelson. Roger Miller’s “River in the Rain” opened the show followed by Sidney and Suzanne Cox providing honey sweet harmonies on Nelson’s “I Never Cared For You”.

Though songs like “Broadway”, “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You” and “Ghost in This House” made for a lay back and daydream kind of set, Krauss would snap it up with some pepper on tunes “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson” and “It’s Goodbye and So Long to You”. It was the stroll through the Oh Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, however, that raised a few folk itchin’ to dance out of their seats to dosey-do to “Keep On The Sunny Side” and slow waltz to “Down to the River to Pray”.

Stage namesake Top Shelf Distillers has been churning out themed cocktails each night and the bluegrass star received her own bevy blend called Krauss Roads. That gin, lime juice, and grapefruit soda mix was a smooth sidekick to a bluegrass summer night that, come show’s end, left a little gospel gold twinkling alongside those first starts peeking through night’s blanket.

Krauss bid farewell with a slice of the spiritual, closing the set with “When God Dips His Love in My Heart,” the spiritual “I Got Shoes,” and “Down Here I’ve Done My Best.”

Amen! 

SETLIST:
River in the Rain
I Never Cared For You
Stay
Forget About It
Broadway
Baby, Now That I’ve Found You
Ghost in This House
Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson
The Lucky One
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
It’s Goodbye and So Long to You
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby
I am Weary (Let Me Rest)
Down to the River to Pray
Keep on the Sunny Side
Gentle on My Mind
When God Dips His Pen of Love in My Heart
Walk Over God’s Heaven

Encore:
When You Say Nothing At All
A Living Prayer
It Is Well with My Soul