Derek Trucks is the son of Allman Bros. Band drummer Butch Trucks and plays guitar with the Bros. in addition to fronting this band. Having grown up in the Allman clan, Trucks favors the fluid slide playing style virtually trademarked by Duane Allman and Dickie Betts. Trucks puts his southern jazz twist on the King Curtis title track and melts it into Bob Marley’s “Rasta Man Chant” for a ten-minute ride, then does some slinky finger picking on “Bock to Bock.” Both songs get an additional does of originality from Kofi Burbridge’s flute playing. On the

disc’s only track with vocals, Gregg Allman sings “Drown In My Own Tears” over Bill McKay’s quavering B-3 while Trucks honey-coats the whole affair. Trucks and his band perform two originals on Soul Serenade, a tribute to Elvin Jones (“Elvin”) and a short piece called “Sierra Leone.” Putting his bottle neck aside for “Sierra,” Trucks plays the acoustic guitar and shows an equal affinity for sarod, sort of an Indian lute, and is again buoyed by Burbridge’s piping. Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro Blue” is turned into an Allman-style jam that reminds of that group’s classic “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” This effort will please Allman fans and lovers of slide guitar in general.

—Kevin Wierzbicki