Guest Book

More good press for Derek Trucks (courtesy of Eliot): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5314-2005Jan12.html In 2003, when Rolling Stone put out its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, Derek Trucks made the cut at No. 81. If the magazine compiled a list of the most unassuming guitarists, his name would certainly top it. It's refreshing to see a player as talented as Trucks performing in such an understated style. He doesn't grimace or bite his lip. He doesn't flip his blond ponytail or make simple licks look difficult. He doesn't strut about the stage like some guitar-god peacock. Instead, the 25-year-old plays with something approaching grace, a quality almost extinct in popular music. At the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Tuesday, the second of two sold-out nights for his band at the club, Trucks settled in for two hour-long sets that traversed a wide musical territory from blues and southern rock to soul, Eastern-flavored experimental jazz and more. He seemed completely absorbed in his playing. Not in a self-indulgent way but with the concentration of an artist who is truly exploring. He has become less jam-bandy, and more serious. In addition to performing several of its own compositions, the band covered blues classics like Ed and Lonnie Young's "Chevrolet" and the magnificent gospel song, "Yield Not to Temptation." Washington jazz great Ron Holloway added his sharp tenor sax playing to a couple of songs, including Curtis Mayfield's "Freddie's Dead." The rest of Trucks's band -- lead singer Mike Mattison, keyboardist Kofi Burbridge, bassist Todd Smallie and drummer Yonrico Scott -- share their leader's substance-over-style approach. To watch them play was to observe a musical conversation: meditative at times, humorous at others. And at night's end, the quiet Trucks, who said nary a word and rarely looked at the crowd, let a small smile form on his lips, the slightest sign that he was as pleased as everyone else in the room.