With Allman Brothers roots and a 12-piece ensemble, Tedeschi Trucks Band is known for long instrumental jams and occasional ragas on songs that borrow from gospel, blues, soul and rock and roll.
Their last release, 2022's I Am The Moon , was a series of four full-length albums based on Layla and Majnun — a 12th century poem by Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. This poem is also the basis for the Derek & The Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Many of the songs on I Am The Moon are long, extended jams. It's a Herculean lift that created a thing of beauty, but didn't lend itself to casual listening.
On Future Soul, there is plenty of Tedeschi Trucks' signature sound — punctuated by scorching guitars, Susan Tedeschi's powerful voice, and a tight band making effortless work of complex arrangements. With the longest song on the album clocking in at just under five minutes, it's a much easier recording to digest than their last effort.
A couple of tracks - Hero, and Future Soul - are high octane rockers. The slow burning groove of the more relaxed Who Am I, is reminiscent of an early TTB favorite, Midnight in Harlem, which is a staple of their live shows. I Got You begins uncharacteristically with an acoustic guitar, then builds into a soulful jam and culminates with a big finish as Trucks stretches out on slide guitar.
Future Soul features TTB's distinguished 12-piece band — made up of a horn section, keyboards, drums, percussion, and back-up vocals. It's a collaborative force. Vocalist Mike Mattison, and keyboardist Gabe Dixon write a lot of the lyrics. On stage, everyone gets their moment to shine, but the secret is how the band comes together to create something that's so much bigger than the sum of its many outstanding parts.
Catch their recent performance of Future Soul here:
We'll be exploring this album in the coming weeks on Open Air - Weekdays 9am-3pm on JPR's Rhythm and News Service.
