It’s been a difficult year for the Allman Brothers Band, but after a proper period of mourning, several members of the extended Allman Brothers Band family have come together to preserve the legacy of one of America’s original jam bands. Appearing at Brooklyn Bowl on October 25, Friends of the Brothers, as they call themselves, performed a thorough and impressive tribute to the music of the ABB.
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The tribute group features guitarists Junior Mack—a superbly talented guitarist and vocalist who joined the Allman Brothers Band on stage during their Beacon runs and has been a member of Jaimoe’s Jazz Band ever since—and Andy Aledort, who for more than a decade has been playing with Dickey Betts as part of Great Southern. Keyboardist Peter Levin toured with Gregg Allman and appeared on Gregg’s final album, Southern Blood, while guitarist and vocalist Alan Paul is better known as the author of One Way Out, the best-selling history of the Allman Brothers Band.
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Kicking things off with “Statesboro Blues,” Friends of the Brothers worked through a long list of Allman Brothers Band songs beloved by the fans who turned out to connect once again with the music on which they were raised. “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” was next, after which the band introduced not just a friend but the son of a Brother, Lamar Williams, Jr., to help out on vocals. Lamar appeared on the Beacon stage with the final iteration of the ABB, and he’s continued to emerge as a solid performer. His vocals on “Come and Go Blues” and later on “Midnight Rider” and “Whipping Post” took on the unenviable challenge of being compared with the late Gregg Allman, but Williams wisely chose to find his own voice rather than hew too closely to the originals.
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It was an evening of standards and deep cuts. Among the former were “Jessica”, “One Way Out”, and “Dreams,” while Jackson Browne’s “These Days”—covered on Gregg’s first solo album, Laid Back—was a standout among the latter. In addition to the four members with direct ties to the ABB, Friends of the Brothers features Craig Privett on bass and drummer Dave Diamond, a founding member of the Zen Tricksters, a band that’s played with Bob Weir, Derek Trucks, Robert Randolph, and other luminaries on the jam band scene. It remains to be seen whether this particular collective has legs as a touring band, but the Allman Brothers Band’s music remains timeless, and there’s an eager audience hungry to hear it.
Check out a few videos below, courtesy of Sean Roche.
Enjoy the photo gallery below, courtesy of Lou Montesano.
