Sony Masterworks
In 2010 Derek Trucks decided to suspend his self-titled group and wife Susan Tedeschi tabled her own touring band, so that the pair could start anew with a fresh, hand-picked collective. As the eleven figures who appear on the cover of Revelator can attest, they’ve opted to assemble a big band. Not only that but it’s a BIG band, featuring such heavy hitters as bass player Oteil Burbridge, his brother keyboardist/flautist Kofi Burbridge, the drumming tandem of Tyler Greenwell and J.J. Johnson and a brass section. Yet despite the abundance of players, Revelator proves a fitting platform for Trucks’ tasteful, oft-sublime guitar and Tedeschi’s warm, emotive vocals. Tedeschi’s singing in particular reaches new heights and colors on such rich, nuanced offerings as “Until You Remember” and “These Walls.” Virtuoso musicianship aside, it is the engaging, original music that renders Revelator such a magnificent achievement and provides the listener with a rooting interest in the future of the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Here Revelator soars, through its winning blend of soul, blues, jazz and funk, as the group moves with equal aplomb from ballads to burners. Some songs, such as “Midnight In Harlem” and “Simple Things,” seem destined to endure as classics and with any justice the Tedeschi Trucks Band will do the same.