Easter Sunday line-ups do not come any better than Trombone Shorty and The Tedeschi Trucks Band gracing the stage at The Enmore Theatre.
This couplet were bound to have jazz, funk, soul, blues and rock on the menu. During the entrée of Trombone Shorty, he hit upon all of the items mentioned on the aforementioned menu and almost took punters’ appetite away for anything else it was so tasty.
One audience member openly asked: “Is Trombone Shorty another one of those grizzled old musicians we have had in town like Taj Mahal, Neil Young, and Springsteeen?” Obviously this young woman had no idea what she was in store for but her mind would have been blown when the well-toned and handsome Mr. Shorty (aka Troy Andrews) hit the stage.
Along with his band Orleans Avenue, Andrews took the entire Theatre back to N’awlins for a spell. As a matter of fact, he claimed he wanted to take the entire audience back with him. Sweet, but showmanship for sure.
“Slippery Lips” gave the whole band a work out to loosen up (obviously) their lips, their strings and their sticks. The small standing section in front of the stage was swinging and stomping during this tune and did not let up for nearly 90 minutes of wild musicianship.
The interplay between Andrew’s trombone and the saxophones of Dan Oestreicher and Tim McFatter was stunning and these young players are truly going to make a name for themselves.
Trombone Shorty is only 27 and he has played every major talk show, Jazz Festival in New Orleans, and The White House. An amazing run, but let us not forget he has been tooting that horn for over 20 years now.
The trumpet, also played by Andrews, was featured on “St. James Infirmary Blues”. A song made famous over 80 years ago by Louis Armstrong, Orleans Avenue re-invented it for the 21st Century with some thrilling horn solos, mesmerizing people with their feats.
Another sweet highlight of a set that went all too quickly was Allen Touissant’s “On Your Way Down”; surpassing the recorded version on Andrew’s album Backatown and leaning more on the Little Feat arrangement of the same song.
Derek Trucks is another musical prodigy and it is hard to believe that he is only 33 with his recording and performing legacy. As a current member of The Allman Brothers, fronting his own band The Derek Trucks Band from 1997 until 2009, and now teamed up with his talented songstress/guitarist wife Susan Tedeschi – in the Tedeschi Trucks Band – Trucks is always making music. This outfit gives him the ability to get away from simply another guitar record and, as he puts it, play a more mature style of music.
Slow-burning ballad “Midnight In Harlem” gave the talented Tedeschi a chance to show her vocal style is still growing and improving. Possessing a husky tone similar to one Bonnie Raitt, crossed with Janis Joplin, but hearing her this time around, she is achieving a sound that is truly hers.
Trucks’ solo during this number was supernatural as the band slowly grooved behind his wailing slide playing. The glowing looks that Tedeschi shines on him as he plays proves that this husband and wife touring gig is working out for them.
With an 11 piece band there is always something to watch and someone else to knock your socks off. “Love Has Something Else To Say” gave both guitarists a chance to solo but the three piece horn section – of Kebbi Williams on saxophone, Maurice Brown on trumpet and Saunders Sermons on trombone – gave their support act a run for their money in funking it up.
From them all taking solos, it ended with Tedeschi and Trucks bringing it home one more time with some great riffs.
Oteil Burbridge is no longer with the band on bass and his presence is only missed due to his startling flair on the instrument. Kofi Burbridge, his brother, still mans the keyboards and along with backing vocalist Mike Mattison, they are the only remaiing members from Trucks original band. But the strength of this outfit is that it is twice as large as his previous line-up and the musical ability takes them down many more roads each evening.
The paths taken sometimes were a lengthy guitar solo into “Bound For Glory”, rather a bit too much jazzy improvisation throughout the set, or a bit of Motown. Steve Wonder’s “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” was given a prolonged work out where everyone got a chance to show off and Susan sort of segued a bit of “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” towards the end. These jam bands will do anything to mix it up.
Derek may be on this funky soul stew review thing with his wife for a while, but we can only hope that sometime soon he takes some time off the road to record one of those guitar based albums. Or better yet the next time he comes to Australia the Bluesfest people might get The Allman Brothers to visit Australia for the first time. Fans still hold their breath waiting for that day to come.
