Derek Trucks is an American musician whose field of expertise lies centrally in the art of slide guitar. His surname will be familiar to fans of The Allman Brothers Band in particular, and Southern Rock in general, in that he is nephew to the great Butch Trucks, drummer for the Allmans.

Joyful Noise was the third album released by the Derek Trucks Band in September 2002. The core quartet of the band comprise Derek Trucks (guitar), Yonrico Scott (drums, vocals, percussion), Kofi Burbridge (flute, vocals, keyboards) and Todd Smallie (bass, vocals), with additional personnel in the shape of Susan Tedeschi (vocals on ‘Baby You’re Right’ – she is also married to Derek Trucks), percussionist Javier Colon, who also gets three co-writing credits on the album, a conga playing Count M’Butu and several guest vocalists.

It’s an incredibly diverse set, boasting genres from Modal Eastern (‘Maki Madni’, featuring guest vocalist Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), through to Latinate Funk (‘Kam-Ma-Lay’, featuring guest vocalist Ruben Blades), as well as the customary Southern Rock, gutsy blues and some fine R&B in the shape of ‘Home In Your Heart’ and ‘Like Anybody Else’, both of which feature the great Solomon Burke on lead vocals.

Paired with Joyful Noise here is Backyard Tracks, an in-concert mini-album originally released as a promo only title on the Sony / Legacy label in 2006, the recording being made in December 2005 at the Variety Playhouse venue in Atlanta, Georgia.