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ORANGE BEACH, Alabama — Music pouring from the stage Wednesday night varied from rock to blues, soul to spiritual. 

The Tedeschi Trucks Band creates more than mere sound, with songs longer than a few minutes that feature improvisation, mini-solos, duets and more that cover the American music landscape.

Twelve band members walked onto the stage about 9:15 p.m. at The Wharf Amphitheater and launched into the upbeat “Don’t Let Me Slide” from their debut “Revelator” album in 2011.

They followed up that with “Don’t Know What It Means” from the 2016 “Let Me Get By” album. Derek Trucks’ “wah wah” guitar intro was followed by the horn section of saxophone player Kebbi Williams, Ephraim Owens on trumpet and Elizabeth Lea trombone.

Then Susan Tedeschi’s powerfully emotional voice that some compare to Bonnie Raitt (one of her influences) took over. Tedeschi played guitar on most songs, and this one was no exception as Trucks — her husband — smiled while watching her perform.

The band looked to the past for the next song, a jazzed-up version of “The Letter,” a 1967 hit from The Box Tops with a funky Williams’ sax solo that again showed the band’s range.

That seemed like a good year for them, as vocalist Mike Mattison performed Bob Dylan’s song “Down in the Flood” with Trucks’ slide guitar. 

The Wharf audience showed its appreciation for that and every song, as many stood to applaud, hoisted their drink or swayed arms back and forth as the steamy night wore on.

“It’s a hot one tonight,” Tedeschi proclaimed at one point. “It feels like Alabama.”

And it was Tedeschi who at times energized the crowd even more, as she began clapping as the crowd followed her lead. When she urged them to stand up later in the show during blues song “I Pity The Fool,” singing: “Pity those who have so much hate in their heart. What we need is love. Get up and hug somebody! Shake somebody’s hand now,” as some took her advice.

Tedeschi during that song also launched into one of best and longest solos of the night, confirming again why she’s a talented blues artist and not just her voice.

And the band played some of its current music, including “Signs/High Times” from its “Signs” album that dropped earlier in 2019 and reflects recent losses: Trucks’ uncle, Butch Trucks, the drummer and co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band, longtime friend Bruce Hampton and Gregg Allman all died in the first five months of 2017.

Then longtime band member Kofi Burbridge died from heart complications Feb. 15 of this year, the same day “Signs” was released. Burbridge was the band’s keyboardist and flautist.

“This record was kind of a way, I don’t want to say cope, but a way to deal with a lot of the losses,” Trucks said in a USA Today interview about a month ago before the band toured Japan.

“When you lose people that are important to you, it’s in the air. The band is in a raw place.”

More: Blues all too real for Tedeschi Trucks Band that begins U.S. tour in late June

The southern Alabama concert was a homecoming of sorts for Tyler Greenwell, one of the band’s drummers, who’s from nearby Pensacola, which also is where Tedeschi’s mother was born.

Tedeschi Trucks did not perform a few favorites, such as “Midnight In Harlem” and Tedeschi’s version of the John Prine song “Angel From Montgomery.”

However, the band didn’t disappoint when performing another of its more popular songs, the upbeat spiritual “Bound For Glory” — featuring brilliant keyboardist Gabe Dixon — that again brought the crowd to its feet. 

Another treat came when Charlie Starr, lead vocalist and guitarist for Blackberry Smoke that opened for Tedeschi Trucks (along with Shovels & Rope), joined in for two songs — the Leon Russell hit “Stranger in a Strange Land” and Derek and the Dominos’ “Key to the Highway.”

For those who remained for the encores, they were treated to the band’s version of Elton John’s “Border Song.” Tedeschi Trucks ended the night with “Made Up Mind,” the title track from its second studio album (in 2013). 

The two-hour concert was the final one near the Sunshine State on the band’s 40-city “Wheels of Soul” U.S. tour, after recent stops in Jacksonville (the band’s hometown, and where the tour began), Boca Raton and St. Petersburg.

They next head to the Carolinas before moving farther north to Philadelphia and other East Coast cities. The tour ends in mid-November in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Tedeschi Trucks creates a musical experience, one of the truly talented bands of our time that sounds like no other. If it was Trucks and Tedeschi on stage, that alone would provide enough enjoyment.

But add in the band’s 10 other superb musicians and it’s more than worth the cost. 

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