Possessing one of the toughest tender voices in rock today, 48 year old six time Grammy nominee Susan Tedeschi leads an impressive ensemble cast of musicians on the fourth Tedeschi Trucks Band album in eight years. Formed a decade ago after three years of touring together, Tedeschi and her blues guitar compadre husband Derek Trucks, nine years her junior, merged both their respective bands together to create Tedeschi Trucks Band, an albatross of blended blues bands consisting of no less then a dozen members.
Showcasing a three person rhythm section with two drummers (J.J. Johnson and Tyler Greenwell) and bass guitar (Tim Lefebvre), TTB also boasts three back up singers (Mike Mattison, Mark Rivers and Alecia Chakour), a three member horn section including saxophone (Kebbi Williams), trumpet (Ephraim Owens) and trombone (Elizabeth Lea), one all purpose multi instrumentalist keyboard player and flautist (the late Kofi Burbridge 1961-2019) and husband and wife team Tedeschi and Trucks, married since 2001, handling guitar and vocals.
Dedicated in loving memory to Trucks’ uncle and former Allman Brothers bandmate Butch Trucks, Gregg Allman, CeDell Davis, Leon Russell and B.B. King, the eleven track 46 minute long Signs album is heavy on ballads spiked with intermittent hits of Sly And The Family Stone inspired rock n soul flavoured R&B and an array of tasty well placed blues guitar licks Grammy Awarding winning Trucks is known for. Issued earlier this year Signs is an impeccably timed release, the perfect soundtrack to celebrate outdoor music festival season and the summer of famed Woodstock Music & Art Fair held fifty years ago this August 15-17, 1969 in Bethel, New York. Dig.
Rating: 8/10
Star Rating: 4/5
2019 Song Of The Day Club 17/52