Review | Tedeschi Trucks Band & Jackie Greene | NYC
By Team JamBase Sep 27, 2014 • 8:20 am PDT
Tedeschi Trucks Band with guest Jackie Greene :: 9.26.14 :: Beacon Theatre :: New York, NY
We’ll look back on this year as the one where a new tradition cemented —Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Beacon Theater in the fall – just as an old tradition – Allman Brothers at the same gilded palace – wound down. Yes, the sprawling TTB taking over the Beacon, at least for two weekends, is now a capital-E Event, flush with guests, interesting setlist variations and good vibes.
And why shouldn’t it? It’s been fun to watch this band, which was a well-intentioned but messy collective in its earliest incarnation, cohere into what it is now: a blues-soul powerhouse with no shortage of musical firepower but with enough control and self-awareness to dole it out effectively.
It‘s is the union of its namesakes and also the best of what each of them brought from his or her solo band. Susan Tedeschi shows in the old days were consistent almost to a fault – steady, yet repetitive. Derek Trucks Band shows were dazzling showcases but also could be brutally eclectic, shifting from ragas to Delta blues to antiseptic rock ‘n’ roll that placed virtuosity over wholeness. But Mr. and Mrs. Trucks together balance each other out and push each other harder; this show – the third of this September’s TTB Beacon stand – was a model of pacing, with slow burners and heavy hitters and an acoustic interlude that seemed to come at just the right time.
Beyond the two of them, there’s another strength: despite its almost absurdly large size, this band has figured out how to unpack itself. Not everyone needs to be doing something at every second of every song, and players wander, take up mics, yield to Mike Mattison and Mark Rivers to carry vocals, perform as a horn section or promote one horn to take over, ride the drum tandem or let one drummer pronounce, hang back and let bassist Tim Lefvebre groove away.
There were examples throughout. “Don’t Miss Me” had a fuzzy, yet probing sax solo from Kebbi Williams before Trucks ate the rest of the song. Mattison and Trucks sat down to do an old Derek Trucks Band favorite, Skip James’ “Crow Jane,” delivered with partial band accompaniment because it just seemed like the right thing to do, right then. “Bound for Glory” yielded to Kofi Burbridge, to whom the rest of the band nearly dropped out as he wandered deep into the sonic, near-psychedelic wilderness with slippery organ and clavinet, seeming to exhaust all possibilities before bringing the tune back.
Everyone on stage got a showcase – in some cases, several – without making it feel like a “your turn, now your turn” kind of thing. Even the evening’s special guest, Jackie Greene, added in just enough of himself, playing stabby organ in “Loan Me a Dime,” back-porch harmonica in “You Got the Silver,” sweet-hot guitar in the Susan-led “Angel from Montgomery/Sugaree” pairing, and adding backing vocals in “Night Time is the Right Time.”
"Loan Me A Dime" with @jackie_greene! @BeaconTheatre pic.twitter.com/7yWjjO3bmN
— Tedeschi Trucks Band (@DerekAndSusan) September 27, 2014In the end, though, everything flows back to Derek. Tedeschi’s voice is a thing of ferocious wonder, but not even she has the gravity of her husband when he’s out for blood. Derek Trucks approaches solo segments like they’re slabs of marble waiting to be carved; patiently does he set out, building here, scraping there, forcing what must be a mental slipstream of ideas into a destination and then hammering that into a resolution.
It’s a familiar approach by now but that destination is never quite obvious – somehow, even with all of this talent packed into a stage barely big enough to contain it, it’s Trucks-in-the-kill-zone we wait for and that which obliterates everything else.
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Beacon Theater, NYC, 9/26/2014
Rollin’ & Tumblin’, Do I Look Worried, Don’t Miss Me, Midnight in Harlem, Break in the Road, Loan Me a Dime*, Idle Wind, You’ve Got the Silver**^, Crow Jane^^, Shelter^^^, Part of Me, I Pity the Fool, Angel from Montgomery*** > Sugaree*** > Angel from Montgomery***, Bound for Glory, More & More
Encore: Night Time is the Right Time****, Living in the Palace of the King
* w/Jackie Greene, organ
** w/Jackie Greene, harmonica
*** w/Jackie Greene, guitar and vocals
**** w/Jackie Greene, backing vocals
^ Acoustic and seated, partial band
^^ no Susan, Derek and Mike Mattison with partial band
^^^ Susan and Tim, dedicated to Brian Farmer
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