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Earlier this year, at the Sunshine Blues Festival show the Princess and I attended in Ft. Myers, Susan Tedeschi, co-leader along with husband Derek Trucks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, told the crowd that “TTB” stood for “Terribly Talented Band”. She said it more as a tribute to the eclectic talents of the other nine members than as a boast, but, at least to this listener, she’s allowed to boast if she chooses. With the release last week of their second studio album, Made Up Mind, TTB has firmly fixed its place among predecessors in the realm of blues, Memphis soul, and Muscle Shoals-styled Southern rock. Flavor this mix with hints of folk, gospel, jazz and Indian raga, and what you have is pure Americana. There is a reverence in their music for those who’ve come before them: They take this child of the 60’s back to the sound of Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. Featuring the blues-belter vocals of Ms.Tedeschi, reminiscent at times of Janis Joplin but with more nuance, and the evocative slide guitar playing of Trucks, a child prodigy who’s toured with Allman Brothers (his uncle Butch Trucks is an original member), TTB in concert delivers a mix of well-crafted originals and covers (they opened the Ft. Myers show with George Harrison’s “Wah-Wah”). Husband and wife are backed by a muscular two-drummer (J.J. Johnson and Tyler Greenwell) rhythm section, a soulful horn section of Kebbi Williams (sax), Maurice Brown (trumpet) and Saunders Sermons (trombone/vocals), backing vocalists Mike Mattison and Mark Rivers, and the virtuoso Kofi Burbridge on keyboards and flute. Bass seems to be the open position: Kofi’s brother Oteil Burbridge (another Allman alum as well as a talented jazz player) was the original bassist, but he no longer tours with the group and several others (Tim Lefebvre, Eric Krasno) have been holding down the bottom.

On stage, Tedeschi Trucks showcases the talents of all eleven members. Ms. Tedeschi is the primary lead singer, but Mattison, Rivers and trombonist Sermons each get a turn out front. All the instrumentalists get feature spots: Williams often offers a Coltrane-styled flight of fancy on the sax, and Brown’s trumpet takes the solos on several songs. Burbridge displays his skills on the flute as well as keyboards. Tedeschi is herself a solid guitar player and contributes some piercing blues solos as well as rhythm backing. Trucks is fluent in the blues and rock vocabulary that has become the staple of the electric bottleneck slide guitar style since players such as Duane Allman and Ry Cooder introduced the wider public to it back in the 60’s and 70’s. But he has extended that vocabulary with his explorations into Indian music. (Trucks plays the sarood, a traditional Indian instrument, but not on stage.) There is a vocal tone to his playing which contributes to the emotional feel of the music. Check out the title track of their 2012 live album, Everybody’s Talking, for a sample of the uncanny way Truck’s guitar mimics Tedeschi’s voice.

Made Up Mind consists of eleven tracks in varying styles and includes contributions from songwriters Gary Louris (of “Jayhawks” fame), Sonya “Sonny” Kitchell, John Leventhal, Oliver Woods (“Woods Brothers”) and bassist Krasno (who is also the lead guitarist for “Soulive”). In contrast to the expansive approach the band takes in live performance, the songs in this set are tightly-crafted and Tedeschi’s voice is the featured instrument. Trucks’ guitar is more contained than in concert and the horns play a solid but understated role as accompaniment. The styles vary from number to number: The title track is an infectious rocker that finds Tedeschi’s voice testifying over a driving rhythm guitar. “Do I Look Worried” is an Etta James-styled soul ballad and again displays the range of Ms. Tedeschi’s vocals. “Idle Wind”, with its acoustic guitars and Burbridge’s flute, puts her voice into a context that could be called “soft rock.” The pre-released “Part of Me”, which Tedeschi and Trucks describe has having a “Motown” feel, features a great vocal back-and-forth between Tedeschi’s smoky tone and trombonist Sermons’ falsetto, backed R-and-B style by Mattison and Rivers.   

There is no shortage of the heavier stuff here. “Whiskey Legs” is straight rock-and-roll, fuzz guitar and gritty singing. “The Storm” is a thick blues rocker, the insistent guitar riff driving Tedeschi’s recounting of the devastation of a Hurricane Sandy-like storm: “You can’t deny it- change has come at last.” After that sonic assault, TTB closes the album with “Calling Out to You”, another acoustic-guitar based number. The delicate vocal-like phrasing of Trucks’ bottleneck lends the feel of afterglow to what is an overall pleasurable listening experience.

While Made Up Mind may not have the vibrant energy of the live Everybody’s Talking, it is a showcase for what is arguably one the best bands on the music scene today. They are carrying on an American musical tradition and doing a damn good job of it