Revelator

Derek Trucks Band, Susan Tedeschi, Tedeschi Trucks Band | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 7, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: SONY MASTERWORKS
• ASIN: B004RSCWZ2
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #3 in Music > Rock > Blues Rock
  • #4 in Music > Blues

Editorial Reviews

Revelator is the long-awaited, song-oriented debut album by the husband-wife team of singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitarist Derek Trucks. Filled with smoky, blues-dipped rockers and heart-stilling ballads that show off, respectively, the gutsier and softer side of Tedeschi's vocal ability, plus a series of emotive, story-telling solos shaped by Trucks's uncanny agility on slide-guitar, Revelator also serves to introduce the couple s new, 11-piece ensemble Tedeschi Trucks Band.

A dramatic leap forward for two of the music world's most dynamic performers, Revelator is a confident yet unforced triumph offering a cohesive vision: an idyllic, musical world in which the echoes of so many great traditions Delta blues and Memphis soul, Sixties rock and Seventies funk organically flow together, blending with an entirely original, modern sensibility.

In addition to the combined weight of Tedeschi and Trucks's equally renowned abilities, Revelator benefits from an impressive circle of talent that the two brought together. Trucks co-produced the album with multi-Grammy-winning engineer Jim Scott, whose genre-bending credits include popular albums by the Dixie Chicks, Johnny Cash, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Both Tedeschi and Trucks co-wrote the album's twelve new songs with an impressive list of experienced songwriters, including Jeff Trott, John Leventhal, David Ryan Harris and Sonya Kitchell; Gary Louris and Oliver Wood of the Jayhawks and the Wood Brothers, respectively; and old friends like guitarists Doyle Bramhall II and Eric Krasno (of Soulive), and band members Mike Mattison, Kofi Burbridge and Oteil Burbridge.

Most notably, Revelator features the newly formed Tedeschi Trucks Band, an eleven-member ensemble overflowing with talent and musical familiarity. Brothers Oteil Burbridge (noted for his years as bassist with the Allman Brothers Band) and Kofi Burbridge (longtime keyboardist/flutist with The Derek Trucks Band) have joined forces with a pair of drummers J. J. Johnson and Tyler Greenwell, trumpeter Maurice Brown, tenor saxophonist Kebbi Williams, trombonist Saunders Sermons, and harmony singers Mark Rivers and Mike Mattison. (Additionally, Ryan Shaw and David Ryan Harris supplied harmony vocals to various tracks on the album, and Alam Khan adds his masterful sarod playing to "These Walls".) The fact that this aggregation includes so many musicians related by experience and blood clearly adds to the notion of Revelator as a true group album, the product of a musical family. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing guitar, great songs, June 7, 2011

By 

Polar Bear - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Revelator (Audio CD)

When I found out that Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi were recording a blues album together I couldn't wait to hear it. Trucks is one of the best blues guitar players out there and Tedeschi has a beautiful voice with guitar talents of her own. From the opening chords of "Come See About Me" to the last notes of "Shelter", this is an amazing collection of tunes that has it all: blues, soul, rock, funk, and everything in between. Filled with blues-influenced rockers and soft, expressive ballads that show off Tedeschi's huge vocal range, plus a series of incredible solos featuring Trucks's outstanding slide-guitar, Revelator also introduces the new, 11-piece ensemble - Tedeschi Trucks Band. And they do not disappoint. "Bound for Glory" and "Learn How to Love" are high energy blues-infested rockers that will leave you with your mouth hanging open. "Midnight in Harlem" changes the mood with meaningful, introspective lyrics and soulful music. "These Walls" is a beautiful song with an uplifting message of day to day survival in our current harsh times. "Simple Things" marvels in the unasked joys of life that Tedeschi delivers with passion. The band is tight, the production is crisp and fresh and the songs knock you off your feet. I would recommend this to anyone!

52 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trucks Tedeschi Band produces a classic album..., June 7, 2011

By 

G. E. Harrison (Cheltenham, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revelator (Audio CD)

As a fan of both Derek and Susan I was a bit dubious about them combining their individual bands into this extended 11-piece band. However, from the first track "Come See About Me" they hit the ground running - starting out with an acoustic slide intro before settling down into a blues-funk groove featuring Susan's wonderful vocals, Derek's peerless slide guitar and Kofi Burbridge on clavinet. The rest of the CD is of a similar high standard, with great songs, marvelous playing that is full of emotion but is also very subtle. The large line up is used wisely, the album doesn't feature the full band on every track and there is lots of space but the different elements add variety when necessary.

Although there are obviously similarities with both Derek and Susan's previous work, they have collaborated with others such as Jeff Trott, John Leventhal, David Ryan Harris, Sonya Kitchell, Oliver Wood, the Jayhawks' Gary Louris and Soulive's Eric Krasno to bring in some outside influences to the songwriting. Nevertheless, Mike Mattison's "Midnight in Harlem" (as featured in Clapton's Crossroads DVD) is one of the best songs here. The record was recorded in Derek and Susan's home studio in Florida and sounds great, it's also possibly the reason that Susan sounds so relaxed. I think that up to now she has never made an album that has really shown her true potential but I think that this one definitely does - she goes from a whisper to a scream and really sells every song, an outstanding vocal performance.

The album is so consistently good that I find it hard to pick a favourite track, although "Midnight in Harlem" is right up there, as is the restrained "These Walls" where Derek's guitar counterpoints Alam Khan's sarod. I also really like "Learn How To Love" - one the album's most bluesy tracks - and also the slow soul burner "Until You Remember", with beautiful restrained brass and Stax-style backing. There isn't as much of Derek's guitar on this album as on his own band records but his contributions are, as ever, absolutely superb- lyrical and sinuous but with real bite. My one regret about the album is that the wonderful singer Mike Mattison is relegated to a backing vocalist, surely they could have let him sing lead on one track? I'm really looking forward to seeing the band in the UK at the Shepherd's Bush Empire at the end of June!

40 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sassy, soulful and awesome, June 7, 2011

By 

Murpheus "Blues guy" (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Revelator (Audio CD)

I cannot remember the last time that I've listened, again and again, so intently and with joy to a day-of release from Amazon. No need to be long-winded. We knew Tedeschi-Trucks mash-up would be tasty. Punchy, soulful horns are awesome, the dessert atop Susan's sassy, gospel-sexy vocals and Derek's' slide-guitar wizardry. Five stars? Hell, "Revelator" deserves 10.