The live animals that they are, the Derek Trucks Band has stirred the pot with yet another token from the road, Roadsongs. The double-disc set was recorded over two nights at Chicago’s Park West in 2009, with a full horn section added to the regular six-piece lineup. While Trucks contemplates his next move and DTB takes a break, this captivating brew of jam delights is highlighted by a searing slide guitar and sweetened to a savory twist by a tight band and singer Mike Mattison’s scratchy, soulful vocal.
The funky, blues-driven set lifts off with “I’ll Find My Way” from 2006’s Songlines. The next few tunes draw from this record and the 2009 Grammy-winning Already Free. The latter’s title track sees Trucks stretching out to tasteful bounds, setting us up for the kill. What may prove most enticing to those in search of deeper jams is the 14-minute rendition of Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue,” popularized by John Coltrane and reignited here with a fieriness and passion often heard about, but rarely executed. Ceding the spotlight to saxophonist Mace Hibbard is a perfect example of how Trucks assembles top-of-the-line musicians to create a full, sonically punchy sound that extends beyond the guitarist’s own billowing chops.
Together for 16 years, the band also includes bassist Todd Smallie, percussionist Count M’Butu, drummer Yonrico Scott and keyboardist Kofi Burbridge, plus, for these shows only, Hibbard, trumpeter Paul Garrett and trombonist Kevin Hyde. As a unit, they construct a sturdy framework in which Trucks slips and slides without worry or deceit. Then again, on a track like “I Know,” it’s almost a reversal of roles with the players flowing into the gaps and grooves of the tempo as the guitar soars around the melody. A subtle entrance and tribal reverence dignifies DTB’s stab at Bob Marley’s “Rastaman Chant.” A chorus of horns and a wandering flute dash through the verses while the slide trips through the counterpoint. All the while, the rhythm tucks away, steady and blue, with minimal embellishment.
Working with both the Allman Brothers Band and Eric Clapton, Trucks has undoubtedly played the blues standard, Charlie Segar’s “Key To The Highway.” Here, he throws in a little rag tag for an extra bit of funk. Crossing Allen Toussaint’s “Get Out Of My Life Woman” with Jimi Hendrix’s “Who Knows” is nothing else if not ballsy, but it’s the closer of Clapton’s “Anyday” that effectively seizes the moment. To hear DTB fire off an arsenal of their own fervent selection of originals in a mine field filled with classics melds the very core of Roadsongs and its job of spotlighting the very best from one of the very best.
~ Shawn Perry
