Mark Knopfler And Emmylou Harris
Real Live Roadrunning (Cd+Dvd)

Six albums in six years is a lot! Then for someone like Mark Knopfler, it's really a lot!!! Exactly, since 2000 the former (?) leader of the extraordinary Dire Straits has released, starting from the remarkable "Sailing To Philadelphia" (2000), a continuous series of albums up until today, enriching the record shops section dedicated to him. Indeed: dear Knopfler, having set aside the early years with the band he gloriously led, cannot really be defined as someone who has flooded the market with his presence, so much so that precisely at the height of his popularity, he avoided releasing products which, though of poor quality, would certainly have inflated his wallet as an incontrovertible effect of that deservedly earned King Midas role, which he has played since the beginning of his career (remember the numerous collaborations, from Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Steely Dan, Phil Lynott, etc...).

"Real Live Roadrunning" is the result of the tour undertaken together with Emmylou Harris to promote the pleasant "All The Roadrunning" (nominated for a Grammy Award in both the Best Contemporary Folk and Americana Album categories), released almost seven months earlier. An album from which emanates all that country western flavor that has distinguished the long career of the rustic Emmylou as well as that of the hillbilly Mark, where the material of the latest joint production prevails, without forgetting a glance at both their artistic pasts, just tinged with a bit of melancholy, with a moderate warmth for the golden present.

The vibrant guitar of the best Knopfler introduces the tempered rhythm of "Right Now" which warms the composed audience, who can't help but tap their feet to the notes of the subsequent "Red Staggerwing", dreaming of a joyful evening spent in a festive saloon, amidst whistles, shouts, and blonde whiskey pouring from the famous overturned bottles. The melancholy of "Red Dirt Girl" and the genuineness of "Done With Bonaparte" make us appreciate the true essence of these two artists, capable through extreme musical and narrative simplicity, of showing how good music is more a child of sincere compositional instinct than of technique and sound refinement. A leap into the past of Dire Straits with the execution of "Romeo And Juliet" (preceded by the usual disguised intro) is certainly the winning move to gain thunderous applause, just as the hint of the famous "So Far Away" (always in line with the evening's atmosphere…) seems to unintentionally stir a vivid call in the audience, which is impossible to resist. No less are the graceful "Speedway At Nazareth" (one of the most salient pieces from "Sailing To Philadelphia") or the delicate beauty of "Boulder To Birmingham" (from Harris's first album "Piece Of The Skyes" from 1975), and why not, the calm notes of the more recent "Our Shangri-La" (2004).

If the DVD will become the favored prey of the most ravenous fans for the presence of four additional tracks ("I Dug Up A Diamond", "Born To Run", "Belle Star", and "Song For Sonny Linston") who will rightfully find the product more complete - even though "All That Matters" appears as a bonus track only on the audio CD - the more moderate and completist fans will have the opportunity, through the same medium, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the on-stage skill of the well-established Knopfler/Harris duo, appreciating that humanity and warmth which seems lacking among characters of a certain caliber (it's not always possible to see the Alabama singer dressed as a cowgirl, laughing and joking with everyone). A comprehensive interview, in which the two protagonists talk about how the album was conceived and executed, will further satisfy the most eager who will additionally find interesting a rich sequence of photos and details about the utilized equipment.

Ultimately, a comprehensive publication that is mostly a mirror of the common and recent artistic journey of both protagonists, whose qualitative success was influenced by the purity of an instinctive and unique spirit. The same spirit that initially manifested with unprecedented courage and unusual energy, inspiring the musical depiction of what happened once in the west, and which with equal sincerity guides today with more intimate musical tones the unprecedented duo to assert: "This Is Us"… Take it or leave it…