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Last updated: 13:30 EST 03-31-99
Noteworthy: Allman Brothers name new
member
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Allman Brothers Band wrapped up its
18-show ''March Madness'' stand at New York's Beacon Theater
this week with a spectacular set highlighted by such fan favorites as
''It's Not My Cross To Bear,'' ''One Way Out,'' ''Black Hearted
Woman'' and ''Revival.''
The group, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, announced
after the Beacon run that a new guitarist, Derek Trucks, will be
added for a NASCAR-sponsored summer tour that begins June 12
at Red Rocks, Colo., the picturesque mountainside theater outside
of Denver.
The 19-year-old Trucks, who replaces guitarist Jack Pearson, is a
critically acclaimed virtuoso whose slide guitar work has been
compared to that of charter band member Duane Allman.
The nephew of ABB drummer Butch Trucks, Derek literally grew up
in an organization that constantly renews itself in the tradition of
swing institutions such as the Count Basie Band and blues proving
grounds like the Muddy Waters band, playing a well-known
repertoire periodically freshened by talented instrumentalists.
When the ABB needed a fresh start in the 1980s, guitarist Warren
Haynes and bassist Allen Woody brought the group to new creative
heights.
When Haynes and Woody left to play with Gov't Mule two years
ago, the ABB shifted its arrangement strategy into a more
jazz-oriented direction, featuring bassist Oteil Burbridge, a member
of the avant-garde jazz-rock group Aquarium Rescue Unit.
Burbridge has found ample room for creative expression in the ABB
repertoire. At the last Beacon show Sunday night, he swung through
an exciting exchange with guitarist Dickey Betts on the classic
''Blue Sky'' and rolled the blues behind Gregg Allman's soulful vocal
on ''Stormy Monday,'' which also featured a guest trombone solo
from Dick Griffin.
The crowd went wild during ''Les Breres in A Minor'' in response to
Burbridge's six-string bass solo, doubled by his own wordless
vocals, which added a new dimension to the song. ----- ----- ----- -----
AQUARIUM UNIT TO THE RESCUE
Bassist Oteil Burbridge had a busy night March 28. After finishing
the last show of an 18-night stand with the Allman Brothers Band at
the Beacon Theater, he rushed downtown to the TriBeCa nightclub
Wetlands to host an all-night jam session featuring a reunion of the
original members of another group he plays in, Aquarium Rescue
Unit.
Burbridge and original ARU drummer Jim ''Apt. Q259'' White were
joined by guitarists Col. Bruce Hampton, Atlanta's answer to
Captain Beefheart, and Jimmy Herring, part of the highly successful
''Jazz Is Dead'' Grateful Dead interpretive group.
The reconstituted ARU performed ''Compared To What,'' ''Fixin' To
Die,'' ''Time Is Free'' and ''Basically Frightened'' from the band's
1992 debut album.
The ensuing jam session lasted until dawn, with Burbridge joined by
Gov't Mule bassist Allen Woody, Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist
Bernie Worrell and various guitarists, percussionists and vocalists
on a wide array of material.
The set ranged from ''Space Is the Place'' and ''Outer Space
Incorporated'' by Sun Ra to material from ''Love Of A Lifetime,''
Burbridge's first solo album. ----- ----- ----- -----
GOV'T MULE KICKS HARD ON LIVE ALBUM
The popular rock power trio Gov't Mule celebrated the release of its
second live album, ''Live ... With a Little Help From Our Friends,''
with a powerful night of music last week at New York's Irving Plaza.
The Mule, comprising former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren
Haynes, bassist Allen Woody and drummer Matt Abts, took the
stage after blazing sets from Canada's Big Sugar and whiz kid
guitarist Derek Trucks.
Pumping out its wide-body sound, the threesome played a
cross-section of material from its own albums and two tracks
recorded for the ''Hempilation'' benefit albums a cover of
Steppenwolf's ''Don't Step On the Grass, Sam'' and a medley of
Humble Pie's ''30 Days In the Hole'' and ''I Don't Need No Doctor.''
The crowd delighted to Mule's hard-nosed remakes of Black
Sabbath's ''War Pigs'' and Neil Young's ''Cortez The Killer.''
Trucks, organist Bernie Worrell and Big Sugar guitarist Marc Ford
some of the friends who helped out on the album -- joined in at this
party as well.
The two-disc album was recorded live at the Roxy Theater in Atlanta
on Dec. 1, 1998, and also features performances by keyboardist
Chuck Leavell, guitarist Jimmy Herring and multi-instrumentalist
Randall Bramblett. ----- ----- ----- -----
(John Swenson is the author of numerous books on music, including
''The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide,'' scheduled for
May 1 release by Random House/Rolling Stone Press. He can be
reached online at PLTRHD(at)aol.com. Opinions expressed here are
his own.)
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