I've long opined to anyone unlucky enough to listen to me that the TTB's performance of "Midnight in Harlem" from the Clapton Crossroads fest in 2010 is their finest moment. There are a handful of reasons for this, and of course I'm talking about peak filmed performances.

It's a lovely outdoors scene, with a blissful crowd, and joy is in the air. The TTB were in ascendance, just starting out as a nervous new venture, and what a baptism: playing before an enormous stadium of guitar fans. And they crush it.

Derek is completely on point, leading the band from his intro / raga into the tune, and everyone else steps up. There is great communication from band member to band member, and the pro-shot multi-camera filming lets you see these folks taking cues from each other. Kofi and Oteil are delighted to be in a band together. Oteil is all energy, the band is all smiles, Susan is loving this powerhouse band, and Derek delivers a solo for the ages, the best one I have heard out of so many live versions of this song, which became their calling card for quite a while. The fact that it is pro-recorded is not lost on me; I have been comparing it to versions recorded on people's cellphones, which is unfair. Still, it freaking rocks, in the same way that I credit "At Fillmore East" both to the band playing their asses off and the pro recording of them doing it. Dowd and ABB. Derek and DVD. Tough to beat.

Check it out:

Amazing! Is there better pro-recorded Derek?!?!

But man, I can't believe the version of this song that I caught on Youtube the night the band (and I ) heard that Kobi died. I caught it I guess in the wee small hours of the morning. Maybe the next day. It's a blur.

The contrast could be no clearer. The Crossroads version is in sunlight, a band starting out, all hopes and dreams, Derek playing with the two Burbridges that he had played with for a long time, totally locked in. By comparison, the Warner Theater one from 2019 is in a dark auditorium, with a moon on the screen behind them. Derek has a new bassist and a new keyboardist that he is still breaking in. We at home know, watching this, what the audience does not, that the band is in mourning. We can't even see the full band, as it is not a multi-cam recording.

So I watch it out of curiosity because the song is such a launching pad for Derek but also because there was not much video from the show initially, so rather than doing what I often do now, which is search for new unusual tunes, I check out them playing their classic old songs. First I watch the "Space Captain" video, the first one I find, with Susan breaking down weeping, and then I catch "Midnight in Harlem," assuming I will know what I will get.

And it floors me.

Because I have held the 2010 Crossroads version as a yardstick, not much has matched it. Again, both in terms of actual playing and amazing recording quality video, the 2010 Crossroads is really tough to beat!! I have not found one that compares in terms of recording quality; plus, some versions do hit some of the same sonic territory, the same notes or solo arc overall.

But this video finds Derek digging in and playing the solo very differently.

And the context is completely different. If the 2010 is a song of a celebration for a band that is bound for glory, this one is an elegy, a wail and a moan and then a declaration that we have seen too much tragedy but that beautiful music will still be made, but jeez, it hurts. Great solo, completely different.

And it's an audience video, so it skips the whole raga / Derek intro. And it's somewhat fuzzy, and not multi-camera. However, as compared to many videos out there, it gives a good focus on Derek, and it is not overwhelmed by yappers yapping. That is really huge for me; a lot of audience videos get overwhelmed by the audience, but this one is alright. Something about the darkness of the lighting fits the occasion.

It is labelled Tedeschi Trucks Band Warner Theatre 2/15/19, filmed by Vinny Paul, Midnight in Harlem...for Tim Pierce. That seems haunting too, though I have no idea what it means.

Susan really sustains some notes, and there is clearly not the same kids-in-the-cabbage-patch vibe that we had in the Crossroads 2010 version. No smiles, no laughter, no bopping Oteil. It's not grim, but elegiac, and the solo pulls that in too. Derek puts a lot of blues in it, and really, a lot of Duane. He rides low on the notes for a while, the dark end of the fretboard, bringing in some of his Delta and his Indian love, but when he ultimately turns it on, it recalls the ache of "Layla" and of some other classic Duane moments, but it's always Derek. Who the heck plays like this? Who in our lifetime are we going to see paint these visions on 6 strings? Here it is:

That is some blues for Kofi.

I hit "replay" quite a few times.

After 2 weeks of me watching that version and losing my mind, integrating the videos from that night with the process of learning to love the new studio album, which is full of grief and strength, I was delighted to find that someone did record the intro /raga from the Warner "Midnight in Harlem," and while this recording is (for my eyes and ears) dominated by the audience somewhat, it sure is a wonderful find.

I like listening to it via youtube with the video off, as I find the widescreen of the full band with a lot of the backs of heads of audience members a little distracting. It is an epic lead-in, and unlike the 2010 raga intro, this one has Derek bring other sounds in prominently, as Kebbi takes some soulful leads as part of this. It is very interesting to me; Kebbi delights in playing out and in shredding. I assume he is a Coltrane guy, as Coltrane was on that path in his later years. However, Kebbi summons an earlier Coltrane sound, real blues, pure melody and soul. It is worth checking out if you think of this guy as only skronking and shredding (though of course he does deliver a little bit of that!!). Here it is:

And at about 5 minutes on this video, we launch into where the other video begins. Warning: the video above does not have the full song, just the epic intro and about 2 minutes of "Midnight in Harlem."

I was pretty broken-hearted on that night, that weekend. I'm not someone who has met the band or seen them a zillion times. I saw the DTB 4 times and ditto the TTB. I've seen the ABB maybe 15 times. But Derek and Co seem like incredibly decent people, and their new album was already one of heartbreak. Watching the video that night of Susan breaking down during "Space Captain" was brutal. It seems wildly unfair that these ambassadors of good will got handed so much grief to handle.

But man, these 2 sections of the "Midnight in Harlem" offer some healing.

The TTB live are really excellent at offering healing. Music that makes you feel good, that makes you feel in tune with the people around you who get it and the people on stage who give it, to a degree that few bands I have seen can do.

I sure would love to see them release the full Warner show (shows), if this sample is indicative.

Way back in that Crossroads DVD, Bill Murray introduces them as "the miracle that is the Tedeschi Trucks Band." He really got it right.