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Summer Wind: Tedeschi Trucks Band @ SummerStage 30

city parks foundation, derek and susan, central park summer stage, tedeschi trucks band
Tedeschi Trucks Band: Derek and Susan roll out some prime tunes at Central Park SummerStage premier.
Baby, You’re A Rich Fan…
“Embarrassment of riches” is a phrase that always comes to mind when I do my annual overview of the spring and summer music scene in New York City. These outdoor concerts feature a treasure trove of listening opportunities that when amassed across a short three month period is not only mind boggling but for the most part offered FREE to the general public.

On May 18th, The City Parks Foundation launched its 30th Central Park SummerStage season with a great show by what I think is the quintessential American band of our time, The Tedeschi Trucks Band. They are also currently my favorite band. You may have already read my rhapsodizing about why I love them here and as far back as my Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010 BluRay review on PiercingMetal.Com. I’ll give you the spiel anyhow.

S’oul in the Family…
By design, TTB is a 21st century Delany and Bonnie and Friends with a twist of Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishman. Those bands form the roots of a tall family tree that includes Derek and The Dominoes, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, The Grease Band, mid-period Rolling Stones and George Harrison’s masterpiece, the All Things Must Pass album (1970).

Though the namesake of wife and husband Susan and Derek, TTB is also the vehicle for a boatload of musicians who could equally front their own bands. These are 11 amazing players, vocalists, and songwriters who make what appears a juggernaut run like a Ferrari.

Derek Trucks – Guitar
Susan Tedeschi – Guitar & Vocals
Kofi Burbridge – Keyboards & Flute
Tyler Greenwell – Drums & Percussion
J.J. Johnson – Drums & Percussion
Mike Mattison – Harmony Vocals
Mark Rivers – Harmony Vocals
Kebbi Williams – Saxophone
Maurice Brown – Trumpet
Saunders Sermons – Trombone
Tim Lefebvre – Bass Guitar

city parks foundation, derek and susan, central park summer stage, tedeschi trucks band, mike mattison
Singer & Songwriter Mr. Mike Mattison, takes his turn on vocals.
Blues Power…
Strains of blues, gospel, free jazz, southern soul, and “Americana” run through the veins of TTB. While they embody the ethos of a jam band they also never lose sight of the song in favor of endless extrapolation. That said, you will find that their studio recordings, while excellent, are merely a starting point for evolution. Like The Allman Brothers Band before them the real way to appreciate TTB is live onstage. Surprises like opening their swampy barn burner “The Storm” with the coda from Led Zep’s “What Is and What Should Never Be” make the shows exciting and fun for savvy listeners.

Though a few tunes like Mike Mattison’s “Midnight in Harlem” have deservedly become fan favorites and apparent staples, the group continuously juggles their set-lists to keep things interesting for camp followers and they always pick great cover tunes (from Bobby “Blue” Bland to The Beatles) that inform the audience of their musical lineage.

Like the Foo Fighters they are extremely respectful of what came before them, the musical shoulders they stand on, and also like FF they are not shy about shining a light on those progenitors. For instance this summer at the Interlocking Music Festival in Arrington, VA., TTB will pay homage to the late Joe Cocker with a tribute concert (including original members) to the aforementioned Mad Dogs and Englishman band. They’ve already regularly played “Space Captain” in the past, but the idea of having this band dive into “Delta Lady,” “Cry Me A River,” “Feeling Alright,” and Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham’s “The Letter” is beyond exciting for this fan.
central park summer stage, tedeschi trucks band
Join Together with the Band…
Inviting fellow musicians to join them on stage is also a standard practice. At Summerstage, Clapton cohort Doyle Bramhall II augmented the group for a healthy portion of the set including a funky workout on Derek and the Dominoes’ “Keep On Growing” and blues standard “Key to the Highway.” They also hosted Ms. Sharon Jones who delighted the capacity crowd performing two classic soul numbers, Etta James’ “Tell Mama” and Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me.” Jones and her band The Dap Kings will support TTB this season on the “Wheels of Soul” Tour. It seems a perfect match, and I suspect we will be treated to many more duets between Susan and Sharon.

city parks foundation, derek and susan, central park summer stage, tedeschi trucks band
Susan and Sharon shake ’em on down at Central Park Summerstage

TTB Central Park SummerStage Setlist, May 18, 2015
Made Up Mind
Do I Look Worried
Midnight In Harlem
Get What You Deserve (Mike Mattison, lead vocal)
I’ve Got A Feeling/Jam (Beatles cover w/ Doyle Bramhall II)
Keep On Growing (Derek and the Dominoes cover w/ Doyle)
Key to the Highway (Charles Segar cover w/ Doyle)
Break in Every Road
Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke cover w/ Sharon Jones)
Tell Mama (Etta James cover w/ Sharon Jones)
Idle Wind
I Pity the Fool (Bobby “Blue” Bland cover)
The Storm

Encore:
Bound For Glory
More and More (Little Milton cover)

Listen People…
Give that show, and so much more, a listen by exploring the wonderful tapers’ community at the Internet Archive. There’s lots of Soulive and Lettuce there too. Also, be sure to treat yourself to a ticket or three to see Tedeschi Trucks Band as they tour throughout the year.

central park summer stage, tedeschi trucks band
Launching the 2015 SummerStage season, NYC Parks Commissioner, Mitchel Silver presented a mayoral proclamation to City Parks Foundation Board Chair, David Moore and City Parks Foundation Executive Director, Heather Lubov.
SkeletonPete Says…
September will see The Tedeschi Trucks Band roll into New York City’s beautiful Beacon Theater for a residency that I hope eventually grows to rival The Allman Brothers’ now legendary March encampments.

Before that, be sure to check out the schedules of amazing free shows throughout NYC this summer.

The City Parks Foundation SummerStage offers concerts in all five boroughs, BRIC’s Celebrate Brooklyn series has a great line-up at the Prospect Park bandshell, and City Winery has outdoor shows (5:30 – 7:00 pm) behind the venue on their loading dock (which they like to call Hudson Square Mall) on Tuesday evenings starting June 2.

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Music SkeletonPete Says

This Machine Kills Grief: TTB @ Beacon Theater Sept 10, 2011

TTB Tour Shirt will be proudly worn by this fan

Learning to Live Together
It could have been an easy call for New Yorkers to stay home, avoid major gathering places, public transit and traffic checkpoints, on the eve of 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attack. Yet looking around me during the sold out show in Manhattan’s Beacon Theater, it was clear that no one stayed home, every-seat was filled. That is until the Tedeschi Trucks Band hit the chorus of the second song in their set, a great cover of “Space Captain”, and the audience spontaneously got to their feet singing the refrain “learning to live together” and pretty much stayed on their toes until the end of the night.

I attended this show with no intention of reporting on it. I reviewed the TTB debut album Revelator earlier in the year, really loved it and just intended to sit back and enjoy without taking notes or photos. Arriving home it felt totally remiss to overlook the opportunity to comment on just how good the performance was.

Pass The Jam (on the left hand side)
Based on The Beacon presentation I can state with certainty that every song from the studio album has been eclipsed by its performance on stage; utterly elevated, transformed and liberated. The band is tight and intuitive, confident in its ability to expand and contract sections at will, unafraid to wind its way from swamp rock to outre jazz. It’s loose enough to give the jam fans a good dose of experimentation but not so jammy as to lose the intent of the song. All 11 musicians are at the top of their game both individually and as a unit. It was particularly fun to watch brothers Oteil and Kofi Burbridge (Bass and Organ, respectively) playing off each other at their end of the stage.

Throughout the night Derek coaxed searing then subtle lead lines out of his Gibson SG, sometimes teasing the audience with bits of familiar Allman’s melodies then aiming his sites on the heart of the sun for some modal John Coltrane like explorations. The unexpected segue between their rowdy rendition of Delaney and Bonnie’s “Coming Home” and the moody opening of “Midnight In Harlem” was breathtaking in its artfulness. Susan’s voice has taken on an extra level of soul and her evocative delivery sends shivers up your spine. “Until You Remember” and “Learn How to Love” were powerful and visceral, she appropriately offered “Shelter” as a prayer to New Yorkers at this time of memorial.

Funk Soul Brothers (and Sister)
Taking advantage of their full horn section TTB have internalized the deep funk of the 60’s and early 70’s making renditions of Sly and The Family Stone hits “Sing A Simple Song” and “I Want To Take You Higher” feel like their own. It doesn’t hurt to have singer Mike Mattison (whose own Scrapomatic opened the evening) channeling Sister Rose on the high end of the vocal range. Mike also shared a duet with Susan on the Derek and the Dominoes tune “Anyday”. A personal fave, Stevie Wonder’s 1966 hit “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”, was another special surprise.

Skeletonpete Says…
I doubt I will see a more cohesive or exciting performance this year or one more joyfully shared by the audience. If you have a chance to experience TTB as their tour continues don’t miss them.