By Scott McLennan

The best way to honor all of those responsible for the Allman Brothers Band was to play like the Allman Brothers Band: be fierce, not nostalgic; be pleasing, not cloying; be generous, not self-indulgent. And The Brothers pulled it off.

The Brothers — a convening of the surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band — at NYC’s Madison Square Garden on April 16. Photo: Rich Fury

In its earliest, fame-establishing iteration, the Allman Brothers Band did not draw on a particularly capacious repertoire of songs to establish its reputation for crafting daring, exhilarating musical adventures. You can listen to the recordings or just check out set lists from the golden years between 1969 and 1971: it’s the same handful of songs played night after night. Yet each performance could be counted on to be distinctive, the emphasis placed on the how rather than the what.

That’s not to say the Allman Brothers Band likewise did not build an amazing catalog of songs over its 45-year run, which officially ended in 2014. As the band cycled through eras and lineup changes, bold and brilliant new material, rooted in the blues and nurtured with rock and jazz influences, was introduced: “Whipping Post,” “Jessica,” “Blue Sky” “Soulshine”, and others that remain classic-rock staples to this day.

The Brothers — a convening of the surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band from when the last note was played in 2014 plus some interesting additions — came together for two shows on April 15 and 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The group took the occasion to deftly celebrate both the Allmans’ style and songbook, successfully elevating and cementing the band’s legendary status.

Drummer Jai Johanny Johanson — more commonly referred to as Jaimoe — is 80 and the last surviving member of the original band launched by Gregg and Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, and Butch Trucks. Jaimoe played for much of the two-set, 21-song performance that The Brothers delivered on the second of its two-night stand. This was always a band with no fewer than two drummers driving the music, so The Brothers brought in the impeccable Joe Russo and Isaac Eady to work alongside Jaimoe and percussionist Marc Quinones, a member of the ABB through the band’s final decades.

Organ player Reese Wynans, a longtime acquaintance of ABB, took over Gregg Allman’s keyboard work, as he did when The Brothers played a concert at MSG in 2020 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Allman Brothers Band. Piano player Chuck Leavell, a member of the Allman troupe from 1972 to ’76, and part of the pivotal Brothers and Sisters album, joined The Brothers for several selections, on which he stretched well beyond material associated with his tenure, adding his particular flourish to songs from the “modern” era of the ABB.

Guitarist Derek Trucks at NYC’s Madison Square Garden on April 16. Photo: Rich Fury

The modern era began in 1989 with the arrival of guitarist Warren Haynes, who helped set the ABB on a course it would navigate well until its final shows in 2014. Guitarist Derek Trucks, just 20 when he joined the Allmans in 1999, reteams with Haynes in The Brothers. Trucks has become a masterful player, having taken what he learned in his 15 years as an Allman and developed in his own groups. As a musician, he has become as influential and skilled as the players whose roles he had to cover in this outing — namely Duane Allman and Dickey Betts.

Bass player Oteil Burbridge, who played in the ABB from 1997 to 2014, completed The Brothers lineup, bringing, as always, a big, loose swinging feel to the rhythm section.

The Brothers took all that history, all their maturing as artists since their last gathering, all the potential of spicing things up with new players in the mix, and carried that rich musical package across an exhilarating high wire for three glorious hours on Wednesday, repeating just a handful of songs the band had played on the day before.

The Brothers wasted no time in setting the concert’s pace, opening with the double-shot of “Don’t Want You No More” and “It’s Not My Cross the Bear,” the opening salvo in the ABB’s debut album. Trucks and Haynes played crisp rounds of solos atop the big, undulating grooves generated by the rest of the band.

Haynes sang all of the songs, with a little help at times from Leavell when he was present, but the guitarist did not hold back in taking on the roles of sparring, harmonizing, and contrasting guitar parts with Trucks.

For his part, Trucks played with a sense of urgency and energy that grasped the brevity of this special opportunity; if he didn’t try something on these nights as an Allman, he may never get a chance to again as an Allman. So, on several occasions, Trucks went above and beyond what we’ve come to expect from him when he is working with his main outfit, the Tedeschi Trucks Band. In the process, he took the opportunity to rewrite the parts he did with ABB.

Highlights from The Brothers first set included a revelatory performance of “Every Hungry Woman” that blossomed into a vicious blues featuring Trucks and Haynes dueling back and forth. Leavell developed a beautiful intro for Haynes’s signature number “Soulshine.” Russo and Eady transformed “Stand Back” from an often-overlooked number to a swaggering, funky beast of a tune.

The biggest surprise in the first set was the utterly dynamic and unhinged take on “Desdemona,” a song from Hittin’ the Note, the Allman’s final studio album released in 2003. This slow-burn rendition had everything going on — Trucks quoting John Coltrane in his solos; Leavell playing long, beautiful piano solos that had never before invigorated the song; and Haynes guiding it all with soul-drenched vocals and piercing guitar work.

The band closed the first set with a full-throated version of the instrumental hit “Jessica,” a signature of the Leavell  era.

The concert’s second set started out gently with a reading of the Gregg Allman ballad “Melissa.” The Brothers played fan-favorites “One Way Out” and “Midnight Rider” back-to-back, both nicely done, but nothing radically rearranged or moved into challenging spaces.

That more exploratory work kicked in on “Good Morning, Little School Girl,” a song on which Trucks unleashed a scalding psychedelic blues solo that went deeply into a side of his playing he does not tap into frequently.

Leavell took a lead role singing the Dickey Betts anthem “Blue Sky,” which freed up Haynes to uncork an explosive solo that kept pushing the bar higher for The Brothers.

Drummer Jamoie at NYC’s Madison Square Garden on April 16. Photo: Rich Fury

Trucks, patiently building on beguiling guitar meditations, also took the instrumental “Les Brers in A Minor” to a new level, paving the way for Jaimoe, Russo, and Quinones to engage in an extended jam, which kindled a blaze on which Haynes poured more gasoline with his solo. The “Les Brers” was the night’s big epic, and it wound down nicely into a propulsive, celebratory version of “Southbound.”

The Brothers never mentioned by name who was not on the stage. Only fleetingly, during the song “No One to Run With,” were there any images of the fallen brothers, interwoven with the psychedelic lights projected on a mushroom-shaped screen.

The strategy was clear: that the best way to honor all of those responsible for the Allman Brothers Band was to play like the Allman Brothers Band — be fierce, not nostalgic; be pleasing, not cloying; be generous, not self-indulgent. And The Brothers pulled it off.

The band played “Whipping Post” as its last song, and it was, of course, long, dramatic, and full of ache. Safe to say that everyone in the sold-out MSG had had previous encounters with “Whipping Post.” But The Brothers made sure that this version of “Whipping Post” was going to be like no other.

There’s no telling if The Brothers will come together again. Later this summer, though, Haynes and Trucks will bring their respective Gov’t Mule and Tedeschi Trucks Band projects together for a handful of co-bills, including one September 6 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. So there’s potential for catching some shades of The Brothers.

Scott McLennan covered music for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette from 1993 to 2008. He then contributed music reviews and features to The Boston Globe, Providence Journal, Portland Press Herald, and WGBH, as well as to The Arts Fuse. He also operated the NE Metal blog to provide in-depth coverage of the region’s heavy metal scene.