Derek Trucks Band, New York, NY, August 13, 2009
Over the last 30 years or so, Derek Trucks has gone from nepo baby child prodigy, to adult virtuoso, to grizzled American Road Dog. He's even an avid fisherperson. And he still has a lot of life and career ahead of him.
In interviews, Derek Trucks seems like a nice enough guy who is carrying the mantle for not only his family's musical legacy, but a whole strand of jazzy electric blues music, with grace and whatever passes for originality within his chosen form.
I've come to find Derek Trucks' studio albums, especially those with his wife and musical partner, Susan Tedeschi, to be pretty interesting, but live, his band was a bit of an onslaught. I really should like this music more than I do as it's a lot like the Allman Brothers Band (but without the great songs - or great singers), who are one of my all-time favorites.
This concert was a free show, part of the annual Lincoln Center Out of Doorsfestival staged at Damrosch Park Bandshell at Lincoln Center in New York City. For a musician steeped in jazz and blues, the music of Black America, I wonder if Trucks was aware of the history of the ground he was playing on? Of the slum that once stood there, or the jazz clubs and dance halls? Or the urban renewal that swept away the Black and Hispanic culture and displaced thousands? Maybe he was entirely well aware and that knowledge infused his performance. He cannot be faulted for not knowing, of course, but I wonder what resonance it would have for him or any of the performers who appear there.
Despite my general in-the-moment exhaustion with this kind of guitar-driven music, there were a few noteworthy moments in the show. About 45 minutes in, the band cools down enough to perform 'This Sky', a lovely, delicate track from their 2006 album Songlines. Another highlight is the track that follows, a nasty, earthy take on Bob Dylan (and The Band)'s 'Down in the Flood'.
Ravi Coltrane and guitarist Eric Krasno join the band for what starts as a fairly mundane take on Allen Toussaint's "Get Out of My Life, Woman" until Ravi does what you'd expect, and elevates it with a solo that unfortunately gets nearly drowned out by the ooze of the electric blooze. No way to treat a guest.
I do not much love what they did to 'Anyday', the Eric Clapton/Bobby Whitlock composition that for my money is the best track on the Derek and the Dominos album and was the encore. Like nearly every other song, on this night it devolved into a vehicle for overly-long, overly-loud guitar soloing, sacrificing the pleading and plaintiveness that makes the original hit so hard.
Decide for yourself,listen to this show courtesy of Archive.org:
I Know:
Watch as a "13-Year-Old Derek Trucks Tears It Up on 'Layla'"
How Lincoln Center Was Built (It Wasn't Pretty)
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