The Allman Brothers Band - Live at JazzFest 2010 (2 CDs)

The New Orleans show was played in front of a massive throng of 50,000+ appreciative fans, and the band finished their Spring Tour strong with a show full of memorable jams and top-notch musicianship. Keith Spera of The New Orleans Times-Picayune may have put it best in his review of the show.....

"Under a glorious blue sky Sunday at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, a vast crowd bore witness to one of the great American bands still working at an extremely high level....

I'm not sure what song it was; it doesn't matter...Oteil Burbridge's bass functioned like a bulldozer. The guitars of Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes chiseled away, pulled up, then bit into the rock once again. And Gregg Allman filled in and bound it all together with his deep-soul organ. When they reached a peak, they rode the sonic climax over the top, savored the moment, then let it go and started climbing once again."

Keith may have been talking about the fierce "Black Hearted Woman," or the expansive, double-decker "Dreams" with cosmic solos from both Derek and Warren, but as he says, it doesn't matter. The second half of this show packs as much improvisational jamming as any show of the year, with "No One To Run With" and "Whipping Post" both given the extended treatment, and the whole show felt like one long jam by the end of it.

That doesn't even cover the great combo of "Blind Willie McTell" and "Statesboro Blues," or the blazing guitar duel between Derek and Warren on "Woman Across The River," or the excellent "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" that sounded so good on a beautiful sunny day at the Fairgrounds. Magic was in the air for this one!

A double encore of "Melissa" and "One Way Out" marked this as a special show. Jazz Fest artists rarely do encores--a two-song encore is a rare, well-deserved gesture of respect to one of the greatest live bands of all time.

Disc One
1. Crowd noise (1:39) listen
2. Don't Keep Me Wonderin' (5:31) listen
3. Trouble No More (4:10) listen
4. Midnight Rider (4:16) listen
5. Woman Across The River (9:38) listen
6. Ain't Wastin' Time No More (8:13) listen
7. Blind Willie McTell (7:28) listen
8. Statesboro Blues (6:24) listen
9. Soulshine (8:59) @ listen
10. Black Hearted Woman (10:58) listen


Disc Two
1. Crowd noise (1:13) listen
2. Dreams (11:43) listen
3. And It Stoned Me (6:42) listen
4. No One To Run With (9:50) listen
5. Whipping Post (20:03) listen
6. Melissa (5:56) listen
7. One Way Out (6:52) listen


@ = w/ Jay Collins, saxophone; James van de Bogert, drums