Susan Whitall
The Detroit News
Derek Trucks ...Derek Trucks...Derek Trucks...
Oh sure, I knew about Derek Trucks, the former child prodigy guitarist who's on the road with what, two or three bands at a time? I saw him on a tour with Eric Clapton, and was more than impressed at the way he slid into Duane Allman's role, playing slide guitar in Clapton's band. I love the Allman Brothers and the energy Trucks brought to the group. I'd even heard some of the freer, jazzier things he's done on CD with his own Derek Trucks band. But I was still bowled over by Trucks Monday evening, at the Chase Stage. What a closer for me at the Detroit Jazz Festival, to watch Trucks go from playing jazz -- a John Coltrane-inspired "My Favorite Things" -- to the Southern funk of "Key to the Highway" (from Clapton's "Layla" album). I love that Trucks tours with a cryptically smiling percussionist, Count M'Butu, garbed in African prints and adding a mysterious glamor to the proceedings. Drummer Yonrico Scott, a Detroit native, spoke to the crowd several times; a good thing because Trucks doesn't, he looks so deeply absorbed in his music that nothing could rouse him. Don't ever miss Trucks when he comes to town, whatever the band he's with, but most especially with his own, "progressive roots" band. The beauty of his playing, especially his tone, has got to be heard live.
