The trio of studio albums that precedes Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Signs no question had a discernible maturity.  The group has never been one to shy away from tackling some tough topics in their songwriting, including the horrendous tragedy of the Sandy Hook school shooting.  Not to mention, that at its core, the band is built on the blues, carrying inherently the accordant pain and release of that genre.  Still, there is something collectively darker and more developed – a ruminating, consistent sense of heightened emotion- that runs through even the optimistic spurts of the record.

Guitarist Derek Trucks, long characterized as a wunderkind, has respectfully ascended to a place of authority within this musical community both as a player and bandleader.  He, and in equal parts with Susan Tedeschi and their ten bandmates, have an album that builds off its predecessors, delivering the expected level of top flight musicianship, pairing it with themes and messages, heavy and beating with heart.  The outcome is a collection that wrestles between quiet and volatile, between looking in and speaking out, between mourning and moving forward.

Each of the eleven tracks is performed by a focused ensemble firing their every cylinder, whether with the dirty keyboard and greasy horns that open the record on “Signs, High Times,” or featuring a wonderful use of each vocalist in the group, separate and in unison, or on Trucks outgoing guitar solo, sans slide, that hopefully, finally, will demand all future references to him be as a world-class guitarist, (not just world-class slide player).  On “I’m Gonna Be There” the group makes lovely use of strings beneath a reassuring chorus, for a song that recalls the best of Gladys Knight and the Pips.  Then, with patient acoustic and a call for help, the set shifts softly to “When Will I Begin.”

Before things settle in too much, “Walk Through This Life” cross-pollinates New York funk with Southern restraint and gospel vigor, moving into a ballad of resolve on the following “Strengthen What Remains.”  It’s the baroque piano and progressive rock chord pattern of “Still Your Mind” that maybe surprises most, showing a growth and a confidence to step into a new character.  And, there’s still space to burn the dance floor, on a back-to back couplet of jumping R&B, then sizzling horns and indicting lyrics: on “Hard Case” and “Shame,” respectively.  The final three entries showcase blues forms new and old, ending on “The Ending,” an emotionally contained elegy to the late Col. Bruce Hampton, drawing a simple, perfect portrait of words and music for their departed friend and mentor.

Tedeschi Trucks Band is a group that has always been resolute in their protection of a variety of genres and musicians that inspired them.  They have recognized and honored the contributions of those that came before, both in influence and performance.  It’s here, though, that this band has issued a statement of place and time that will, and should, be recognized as a performance of its own lasting and powerful influence.