River in Reverse discussion
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http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/p ... hp/1175908
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint: The River In Reverse
Kann Elvis Costello eigentlich noch Elvis Costello sein? Die Frage lauert ja hinter all seinen letzten Platten, den Jazz-und Klassikexpeditionen, den Ballett- und Filmmusiken, den Kollaborationen mit hochmögenden Menschen der Popgeschichte, die der Supersongwriter der New-Wave-Generation veröffentlichte. Elvis Costello ist ein Fall für hochkulturelle Sonntagsnachmittags-Betrachtungen geworden. Vordergründig reiht sich das neue Album in die Liste der wohlfeilen Experimente ein, nach Burt Bacharach, Anne Sofie von Otter und Diana Krall, nach Paul McCartney, dem Brodsky Quartet und T-Bone Burnett nun Allen Toussaint: Miterfinder des New-Orleans-R & B, Pianist, Songwriter und Produzent, der Mann, der aus dem Schatten des Mardi Gras in die Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame trat. Das war 1998. Knapp zehn Jahre zuvor hatte Toussaint Costello auf einem Song des Albums "Spike" begleitet, am Piano. Auf "The River In Reverse" spielen zwei Bands, die Rhythmus-Abteilung von Costello und die Bläsergruppe von Toussaint, über weite Strecken klingt das, als hätten sie nie etwas anderes getan. Costello legt seinen Klagegesang in die Bläser-Arrangements und Piano-Wiegen, die Toussaint ihm da hinstellt. Gemeinsam schaukeln sie sich durch ein paar schöne Toussaint-Songs (u.a. "Wonder Woman", "Freedom For The Stallion"), gemeinsam haben sie fünf neue Songs geschrieben, nur der Titelsong ist ein astreiner Costello, die kritische Bebilderung der Katastrophe, die der Hurrikan "Katrina" 2005 über Toussaints Heimat New Orleans brachte ("The River In Reverse"). Ein Stück fast auch über die Entstehung der Platte. Besser aber sind Costello und Toussaint im Wechselspiel Gesang Piano, in einer bis aufs Blut reduzierten Version von "Tipitina", der Costello den Titel "Ascension Day" gab. In diesen Momenten des Dialogs mit Toussaint kommt Elvis Costello übrigens Elvis Costello wieder sehr nahe.
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Google trans -
Can Elvis Costello be actually still Elvis Costello? The question lurks behind all its last plates, Jazz-und classical period expeditions, the ballet and Filmmusiken, the Kollaborationen also high-liking humans of the Popgeschichte, which the Supersongwriter of the new Wave generation published. Elvis Costello became a case for advanced cultureal views of Sundays in the afternoon. Vordergründig lines up the new album into the list probably-files experiments in, after Burt Bacharach, Anne Sofie of Otter and Diana Krall, after Paul McCartney, the Brodsky Quartet and T-Bone of the Burnett now all Toussaint: Miterfinder of the new Orleans r & B, pianist, Songwriter and producer, the man, who from the shade of the Mardi grass into the Rock'n'Roll resound to OF Fame stepped. That was 1998. Scarcely ten years before Toussaint Costello on a Song of the album “spikeâ€
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint: The River In Reverse
Kann Elvis Costello eigentlich noch Elvis Costello sein? Die Frage lauert ja hinter all seinen letzten Platten, den Jazz-und Klassikexpeditionen, den Ballett- und Filmmusiken, den Kollaborationen mit hochmögenden Menschen der Popgeschichte, die der Supersongwriter der New-Wave-Generation veröffentlichte. Elvis Costello ist ein Fall für hochkulturelle Sonntagsnachmittags-Betrachtungen geworden. Vordergründig reiht sich das neue Album in die Liste der wohlfeilen Experimente ein, nach Burt Bacharach, Anne Sofie von Otter und Diana Krall, nach Paul McCartney, dem Brodsky Quartet und T-Bone Burnett nun Allen Toussaint: Miterfinder des New-Orleans-R & B, Pianist, Songwriter und Produzent, der Mann, der aus dem Schatten des Mardi Gras in die Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame trat. Das war 1998. Knapp zehn Jahre zuvor hatte Toussaint Costello auf einem Song des Albums "Spike" begleitet, am Piano. Auf "The River In Reverse" spielen zwei Bands, die Rhythmus-Abteilung von Costello und die Bläsergruppe von Toussaint, über weite Strecken klingt das, als hätten sie nie etwas anderes getan. Costello legt seinen Klagegesang in die Bläser-Arrangements und Piano-Wiegen, die Toussaint ihm da hinstellt. Gemeinsam schaukeln sie sich durch ein paar schöne Toussaint-Songs (u.a. "Wonder Woman", "Freedom For The Stallion"), gemeinsam haben sie fünf neue Songs geschrieben, nur der Titelsong ist ein astreiner Costello, die kritische Bebilderung der Katastrophe, die der Hurrikan "Katrina" 2005 über Toussaints Heimat New Orleans brachte ("The River In Reverse"). Ein Stück fast auch über die Entstehung der Platte. Besser aber sind Costello und Toussaint im Wechselspiel Gesang Piano, in einer bis aufs Blut reduzierten Version von "Tipitina", der Costello den Titel "Ascension Day" gab. In diesen Momenten des Dialogs mit Toussaint kommt Elvis Costello übrigens Elvis Costello wieder sehr nahe.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Google trans -
Can Elvis Costello be actually still Elvis Costello? The question lurks behind all its last plates, Jazz-und classical period expeditions, the ballet and Filmmusiken, the Kollaborationen also high-liking humans of the Popgeschichte, which the Supersongwriter of the new Wave generation published. Elvis Costello became a case for advanced cultureal views of Sundays in the afternoon. Vordergründig lines up the new album into the list probably-files experiments in, after Burt Bacharach, Anne Sofie of Otter and Diana Krall, after Paul McCartney, the Brodsky Quartet and T-Bone of the Burnett now all Toussaint: Miterfinder of the new Orleans r & B, pianist, Songwriter and producer, the man, who from the shade of the Mardi grass into the Rock'n'Roll resound to OF Fame stepped. That was 1998. Scarcely ten years before Toussaint Costello on a Song of the album “spikeâ€
http://pub8.bravenet.com/forum/676852346/fetch/591975/
Re: Steve, is there a planned format for the shows w/ Allen Toussaint?
Name: Webmaster Nieve
Date Posted: Jun 10, 06 - 9:30 AM
Message: Yes - very similiar - though it's so much fun with a horn section and two keyboards - maybe the 'guests' will be forced to stay longer - + Allen has so many mighty songs up his sleeve - We will kick off as a 4 piece band and GROW from there....
Re: Steve, is there a planned format for the shows w/ Allen Toussaint?
Name: Webmaster Nieve
Date Posted: Jun 10, 06 - 9:30 AM
Message: Yes - very similiar - though it's so much fun with a horn section and two keyboards - maybe the 'guests' will be forced to stay longer - + Allen has so many mighty songs up his sleeve - We will kick off as a 4 piece band and GROW from there....
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I hear his organ playing more with every listen. he really is a gem, elvis is so lucky to have held on to him for so long. The album really is a grower, listening to it more and more now. One of Elvis's most mature albums.
If there were a king of fools than I would wear that crown/And you can all die laughing/Because I'll wear it proudly.
Unfortunately RIR has only debuted at 103! See http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/153426 ... lines=trueNeil. wrote:Any news from the good ol' US of A? Did it make the Billboard Chart?
What a shame. It makes The Delivery Man look like a huge hit.
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mood swung
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I've had it about 3 days now, and I woke up this morning with Tears, Tears and More Tears in my head. A very pleasant experience.
Anyway, if Elvis keeps heading further south with each new album, I'm thinking the next one's gonna be from Margaritaville and feature the Coral Reefer Band.
Anyway, if Elvis keeps heading further south with each new album, I'm thinking the next one's gonna be from Margaritaville and feature the Coral Reefer Band.
Like me, the "g" is silent.
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(deliberately edited for a cheap joke - sorry MDM!).-
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http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/revi ... n-reverse/
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
The River in Reverse
(Verve Forecast)
Rating: 7
by Zeth Lundy
Like Bruce Springsteen and his new album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Elvis Costello has turned to older songs (namely, those of New Orleans songwriter/producer/arranger Allen Toussaint) to subtly and serendipitously reflect the current national malaise. The River in Reverse, a decidedly post-Katrina and yet conveniently timeless project co-helmed by Costello and Toussaint, is a record that perfectly captures the feeling of disappointment that arises when the most advertised of expectations aren’t met. It’s easy to apply these types of emotions (and, therefore, the album itself) to the tenure of the times—and of course, Costello and Toussaint know what they’re doing here—but overall, the statement they’ve issued is far less reactionary and inflexible than, say, Neil Young’s hardheaded Living With War.
The River in Reverse isn’t about one thing, then, although it does regularly bemoan “men makin’ laws that destroy other menâ€
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
The River in Reverse
(Verve Forecast)
Rating: 7
by Zeth Lundy
Like Bruce Springsteen and his new album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Elvis Costello has turned to older songs (namely, those of New Orleans songwriter/producer/arranger Allen Toussaint) to subtly and serendipitously reflect the current national malaise. The River in Reverse, a decidedly post-Katrina and yet conveniently timeless project co-helmed by Costello and Toussaint, is a record that perfectly captures the feeling of disappointment that arises when the most advertised of expectations aren’t met. It’s easy to apply these types of emotions (and, therefore, the album itself) to the tenure of the times—and of course, Costello and Toussaint know what they’re doing here—but overall, the statement they’ve issued is far less reactionary and inflexible than, say, Neil Young’s hardheaded Living With War.
The River in Reverse isn’t about one thing, then, although it does regularly bemoan “men makin’ laws that destroy other menâ€
If you don't know what is wrong with me
Then you don't know what you've missed
Then you don't know what you've missed
http://www.nola.com/entertainment/t-p/i ... 732460.xml
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Thu, 15 Jun 2006
A PAIR OF ACES
What do you get when two of today's best songwriters team up? 'The River in Reverse,' Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello's full-length collaboration
Friday, June 16, 2006
By Keith Spera
Music writer
The current issue of Paste magazine ranks the 100 best living songwriters. New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint lands at No. 68; his new buddy Elvis Costello clocks in at a lofty No. 8. By that accounting, then, a collaboration between the two should average out as the 38th best songwriting entity.
"The River In Reverse," Costello and Toussaint's new, joint album on Verve Forecast, consummates that relationship. Costello had long admired Toussaint's work from afar, then recruited him to contribute to the 1989 album "Spike." But their first full-length collaboration didn't coalesce until Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, when Costello found fresh poignancy in such vintage Toussaint compositions as "Freedom for the Stallion," and the two shared stages at benefit concerts.
"The River in Reverse" merges their respective artistic temperaments, revealing their inherent compatibility. Producer Joe Henry oversaw recording sessions in Los Angeles and at Piety Street Studio in the Bywater neighborhood. Costello's Imposters -- keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Davey Faragher -- are teamed with Toussaint's guitarist, Anthony "AB" Brown, and the Crescent City Horns: saxophonists Brian "Breeze" Cayolle, Amadee Castenell and Carl Blouin, trombonist "Big" Sam Williams, and trumpeter Joe "Foxx" Smith. Costello and Toussaint wrote new songs to augment selections from the Toussaint catalog.
The album gets off to an understated start. "On Your Way Down," despite a memorable Faragher bass line, is a lukewarm opener, especially with the ballad "Nearer to You" immediately following. The spry piano figure that ushers in the uptempo "International Echo," buried deep on the record, would have been more effective.
Toussaint mostly plays the role in which he is most comfortable: that of the man behind the curtain, crafting arrangements and infusing them with his piano sense. He doesn't step forward on lead vocals until the album's fifth track, a percolating "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?"
Instead, Costello's expressive, well-worn voice is front and center. He conveys the nobility of "Freedom for the Stallion" and embraces the old-school rhythm and blues of "All These Things," holding a falsetto note to great effect.
Costello is too sly to address Katrina directly. He understands that lyrical metaphor and allusion are applicable to a wider audience and boast a shelf life beyond the news cycle. Thus, in the title track, he asks, "How long does a promise last? How long can a lie be told?" The listener is left to provide context.
In "Ascension Day," Costello observes that "some fell down weeping/others shook their fists up at the skies/And those who were left seemed to be wearing disguises." Later, "Not a hound was howling or whimpering or prowling/Now the wind had departed/Not a leaf was hanging on the trees like when it started."
With its religious imagery and twist on "Auld Lang Syne," the Toussaint/Costello composition "The Sharpest Thorn" is an album highlight. Costello posits that "Archangel Michael will lead the way/Archangel Gabriel is ready to play/Although we know we must repent/We hit the scene and look for sins that haven't even been invented."
Eventually, against a parade beat coda, the protagonist realizes that he is not as sharp as he once thought: "And so confetti fills the air/My head is aching, my pockets are bare/I didn't recognize their warning/that I wasn't born the sharpest thorn."
The supporting cast sparkles throughout, from Brown's curlicue Telecaster guitar licks paired with Nieve's Hammond B-3 organ in "Nearer to You" to the flutter of Castenell's soprano sax in "The Sharpest Thorn." Williams' trombone bucks and charges through a clarion call solo in "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?"
Still, Costello and Toussaint accomplish even more with less. Toussaint dreamed up a moody minor-key revision of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina" and Costello penned new lyrics for what became "Ascension Day." They cast it with stark piano and voice, with nothing between Costello's pleadings and Toussaint's magic touch on the keys.
The chorus of "Broken Promise Land" is rendered in a similar fashion, before the full ensemble kicks in at a faster tempo. The result sounds like an unintentional mash-up; maintaining the duo format throughout might have better served the song.
The indefatigable Costello has tried on a number of different musical styles in recent years -- from Burt Bacharach pop to chamber music to raw rock' n' roll -- and worn them all well. Similarly, on "The River in Reverse," he does not simply dabble in New Orleans rhythm and blues. Instead, he immerses himself in such a way as to do justice to the Toussaint catalog, even while maintaining his own hard-won identity -- and forging a new one.
Elvis Costello & the Imposters perform July 18 with Allen Toussaint and the Crescent City Horns at the House of Blues. Tickets are $50 plus service charges, on sale now at the HOB box office and Ticketmaster.
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http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/en ... ucky_music
Lexington Herald-Leader, Fri, 16 Jun 2006
CRITIC'S PICK
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
The River in Reverse
It is probably fitting that Costello receives top billing here. He sings lead on all but one of this remarkable album's 13 songs and, undoubtedly, it is his clout as a veteran and versatile rock songsmith that is being counted upon to sell this project.
But listen to the piano rumble that sets The River in Reverse in motion. It's a menacing soul riff laced with a mischievous Southern air, a trace of gospel funk and a playfulness that signals the revelry awaiting you around the corner. You know within seconds that this music, and this album, belongs to Toussaint.
Costello, of course, is an often outwardly and almost operatic vocalist. On Broken Promise Land, a new song composed with Toussaint that crystallizes the view of a devastated New Orleans as a spiritual ground zero, he visualizes a blasphemed land where "words mean nothing or much less."
But, as a whole, The River in Reverse finds an altogether gentler current to sail on. This is where Toussaint shows his hand. As the bulk of the album features songs of his that are three decades old or more, the dominant spirit here is one of redemptive dignity.
As a result, Costello sings Freedom for the Stallion with a cool grace and even tempers the darker retribution of On Your Way Down with a knowing sense of solace.
That's not to say the music doesn't cut loose at times. Aside from being a profoundly soulful pianist, Toussaint remains one of the funkiest horn arrangers on the planet. So, just as the rage starts to rise in The River in Reverse's Costello-composed title tune ("here comes the flood, if you catch my drift"), the horns ooze in like a medicinal balm. And on International Echo, chaos is held at bay as piano and horns rumble like a street parade.
Toussaint was living in exile in New York as recording on The River in Reverse began. His home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. But the solemnity in his songs and playing here bear no trace of anger or loss. The warmer spirit at work on The River in Reverse is, ultimately, mightier than that of any storm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/li ... ald_living
Miami Herald, Fri, 16 Jun 2006
ALBUM REVIEWS
This rocking collaboration's a must listen
emcdonnell@MiamiHerald.com
• ROCK
ELVIS COSTELLO
and ALLEN TOUISSANT
The River in Reverse
Verve Forecast
****
Two masters of songcraft and expression join for a cause -- not just to bring awareness to the Broken Promise Land represented by New Orleans post-Katrina, but to make some stately, rocking state-of-the-union songs. Touissant, a Crescent City original, is a cool cat and one of the great under-recognized creators of American song. Erstwhile English punk Costello packs more heat and his own bag of wicked hooks. They share a deep, deep feel for genres of American music as rich and wayward as the soils washed up by the Mississippi delta.
The musical core of River in Reverse (produced by Joe Henry) lies in the way Touissant's ivories tickle Costello's vocal cords. The interplay between the subtle, percussive instrument and the explosive, emotional one is laid bare on the haunting Ascension Day. Elsewhere, Costello's longtime band, the Imposters, and such Touissant compatriots as the Crescent City Horns pick up that ball and run with it, creating tremendous rollicking numbers out of Tears, Tears and More Tears and Nearer to You, two of the seven Touissant classics remade here.
The two bards wrote five tunes together; Costello penned the title track himself. The influence of Louisiana music is everywhere. The Sharpest Thorn is a self-deprecating song about being in a Mardi Gras parade. International Echo features a back-line horn section. And old songs like On Your Way Down, with its warning ''The same people you walk on on your way up/ You might meet up/ On your way down,'' have a new resonance in the wake of natural disaster exacerbated by man-made indifference.
The River in Reverse is a testament in song to one of the few good things to come out of last year's hurricane season: a spirit of collaboration and community that crosses musical, cultural and geographical boundaries.
EVELYN McDONNELL
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http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/s ... 21,00.html
Courier Mail, Australia
The Big Easy still on song
Noel Mengel
June 17, 2006
AFTER the flood, the renaissance. It might take years for the city of New Orleans to recover physically, but the spirit of its musical heritage is already rising in albums featuring legends of the city, Irma Thomas, Dr John and producer/songwriter artist Allen Toussaint.
The biggest surprise is Toussaint's collaboration with Elvis Costello, The River In Reverse (Verve). Costello makes so many records in so many diverse styles that only the most studious fan can keep up, but this coat suits him well, recording with his band The Imposters, plus Toussaint on piano and extraordinary five-piece brass section.
R&B-flavoured music in the digital age presents a problem for this writer: why put on the new stuff – usually a little too brittle and clean – when you can play your vinyl records by Otis Redding or The Neville Brothers?
But the ear detects no such problems here, with enough New Orleans grit to create the pearl, as Costello works through tunes from the Toussaint songbook, some new co-writes and the title tune, an ominous slice of funk which sounds like it might have been on one of Toussaint's great '70s solo albums but is Costello's angry response to the Katrina tragedy.
The sound of the brass section is superb, bitter and sweet, sad and proud, and ultimately, a celebration. Like the record itself. And The River in Reverse is Costello's most acute exploration of a distinctively American music, in the company of some of the masters, since King of America.
Thomas had her first hit in '62 (with Toussaint at the boards). But on After The Rain (Rounder) her voice is still rich and commanding, lifting up songs that range back across the best part of a century, from jazzy pop (Doc Pomus's I Count the Tears) to sultry R&B (Flowers) and handclapping gospel (I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free).
And if you can sit through the soaring power of If You Knew Too Much without feeling the spirit of New Orleans, it's hard to know just what would move you.
New Orleans has never been far from Dr John's mind or fingers, despite his long years of exile, and he continues his run of fine releases that began with 2000's Duke Ellington tribute, Duke Ellington.
On Mercenary (Blue Note) he's back in the hometown, paying homage to the tunes of classic American songbook writer Johnny Mercer (Blues in the Night, Hit the Road to Dreamland etc.).
But the Doctor injects these evergreens with a healthy amount of Mississippi hoodoo and voodoo, whether it's the jazzy interpretation of Moon River, the reworking of I'm an Old Cow Hand into a slinky strut or a brassy reimagining of That Old Black Magic as something that might have come from the pen for Dr John himself.
Magic indeed, but there's plenty of that to be found in all three of these releases.
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Thu, 15 Jun 2006
A PAIR OF ACES
What do you get when two of today's best songwriters team up? 'The River in Reverse,' Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello's full-length collaboration
Friday, June 16, 2006
By Keith Spera
Music writer
The current issue of Paste magazine ranks the 100 best living songwriters. New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint lands at No. 68; his new buddy Elvis Costello clocks in at a lofty No. 8. By that accounting, then, a collaboration between the two should average out as the 38th best songwriting entity.
"The River In Reverse," Costello and Toussaint's new, joint album on Verve Forecast, consummates that relationship. Costello had long admired Toussaint's work from afar, then recruited him to contribute to the 1989 album "Spike." But their first full-length collaboration didn't coalesce until Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, when Costello found fresh poignancy in such vintage Toussaint compositions as "Freedom for the Stallion," and the two shared stages at benefit concerts.
"The River in Reverse" merges their respective artistic temperaments, revealing their inherent compatibility. Producer Joe Henry oversaw recording sessions in Los Angeles and at Piety Street Studio in the Bywater neighborhood. Costello's Imposters -- keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Davey Faragher -- are teamed with Toussaint's guitarist, Anthony "AB" Brown, and the Crescent City Horns: saxophonists Brian "Breeze" Cayolle, Amadee Castenell and Carl Blouin, trombonist "Big" Sam Williams, and trumpeter Joe "Foxx" Smith. Costello and Toussaint wrote new songs to augment selections from the Toussaint catalog.
The album gets off to an understated start. "On Your Way Down," despite a memorable Faragher bass line, is a lukewarm opener, especially with the ballad "Nearer to You" immediately following. The spry piano figure that ushers in the uptempo "International Echo," buried deep on the record, would have been more effective.
Toussaint mostly plays the role in which he is most comfortable: that of the man behind the curtain, crafting arrangements and infusing them with his piano sense. He doesn't step forward on lead vocals until the album's fifth track, a percolating "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?"
Instead, Costello's expressive, well-worn voice is front and center. He conveys the nobility of "Freedom for the Stallion" and embraces the old-school rhythm and blues of "All These Things," holding a falsetto note to great effect.
Costello is too sly to address Katrina directly. He understands that lyrical metaphor and allusion are applicable to a wider audience and boast a shelf life beyond the news cycle. Thus, in the title track, he asks, "How long does a promise last? How long can a lie be told?" The listener is left to provide context.
In "Ascension Day," Costello observes that "some fell down weeping/others shook their fists up at the skies/And those who were left seemed to be wearing disguises." Later, "Not a hound was howling or whimpering or prowling/Now the wind had departed/Not a leaf was hanging on the trees like when it started."
With its religious imagery and twist on "Auld Lang Syne," the Toussaint/Costello composition "The Sharpest Thorn" is an album highlight. Costello posits that "Archangel Michael will lead the way/Archangel Gabriel is ready to play/Although we know we must repent/We hit the scene and look for sins that haven't even been invented."
Eventually, against a parade beat coda, the protagonist realizes that he is not as sharp as he once thought: "And so confetti fills the air/My head is aching, my pockets are bare/I didn't recognize their warning/that I wasn't born the sharpest thorn."
The supporting cast sparkles throughout, from Brown's curlicue Telecaster guitar licks paired with Nieve's Hammond B-3 organ in "Nearer to You" to the flutter of Castenell's soprano sax in "The Sharpest Thorn." Williams' trombone bucks and charges through a clarion call solo in "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?"
Still, Costello and Toussaint accomplish even more with less. Toussaint dreamed up a moody minor-key revision of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina" and Costello penned new lyrics for what became "Ascension Day." They cast it with stark piano and voice, with nothing between Costello's pleadings and Toussaint's magic touch on the keys.
The chorus of "Broken Promise Land" is rendered in a similar fashion, before the full ensemble kicks in at a faster tempo. The result sounds like an unintentional mash-up; maintaining the duo format throughout might have better served the song.
The indefatigable Costello has tried on a number of different musical styles in recent years -- from Burt Bacharach pop to chamber music to raw rock' n' roll -- and worn them all well. Similarly, on "The River in Reverse," he does not simply dabble in New Orleans rhythm and blues. Instead, he immerses himself in such a way as to do justice to the Toussaint catalog, even while maintaining his own hard-won identity -- and forging a new one.
Elvis Costello & the Imposters perform July 18 with Allen Toussaint and the Crescent City Horns at the House of Blues. Tickets are $50 plus service charges, on sale now at the HOB box office and Ticketmaster.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/en ... ucky_music
Lexington Herald-Leader, Fri, 16 Jun 2006
CRITIC'S PICK
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
The River in Reverse
It is probably fitting that Costello receives top billing here. He sings lead on all but one of this remarkable album's 13 songs and, undoubtedly, it is his clout as a veteran and versatile rock songsmith that is being counted upon to sell this project.
But listen to the piano rumble that sets The River in Reverse in motion. It's a menacing soul riff laced with a mischievous Southern air, a trace of gospel funk and a playfulness that signals the revelry awaiting you around the corner. You know within seconds that this music, and this album, belongs to Toussaint.
Costello, of course, is an often outwardly and almost operatic vocalist. On Broken Promise Land, a new song composed with Toussaint that crystallizes the view of a devastated New Orleans as a spiritual ground zero, he visualizes a blasphemed land where "words mean nothing or much less."
But, as a whole, The River in Reverse finds an altogether gentler current to sail on. This is where Toussaint shows his hand. As the bulk of the album features songs of his that are three decades old or more, the dominant spirit here is one of redemptive dignity.
As a result, Costello sings Freedom for the Stallion with a cool grace and even tempers the darker retribution of On Your Way Down with a knowing sense of solace.
That's not to say the music doesn't cut loose at times. Aside from being a profoundly soulful pianist, Toussaint remains one of the funkiest horn arrangers on the planet. So, just as the rage starts to rise in The River in Reverse's Costello-composed title tune ("here comes the flood, if you catch my drift"), the horns ooze in like a medicinal balm. And on International Echo, chaos is held at bay as piano and horns rumble like a street parade.
Toussaint was living in exile in New York as recording on The River in Reverse began. His home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. But the solemnity in his songs and playing here bear no trace of anger or loss. The warmer spirit at work on The River in Reverse is, ultimately, mightier than that of any storm.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/li ... ald_living
Miami Herald, Fri, 16 Jun 2006
ALBUM REVIEWS
This rocking collaboration's a must listen
emcdonnell@MiamiHerald.com
• ROCK
ELVIS COSTELLO
and ALLEN TOUISSANT
The River in Reverse
Verve Forecast
****
Two masters of songcraft and expression join for a cause -- not just to bring awareness to the Broken Promise Land represented by New Orleans post-Katrina, but to make some stately, rocking state-of-the-union songs. Touissant, a Crescent City original, is a cool cat and one of the great under-recognized creators of American song. Erstwhile English punk Costello packs more heat and his own bag of wicked hooks. They share a deep, deep feel for genres of American music as rich and wayward as the soils washed up by the Mississippi delta.
The musical core of River in Reverse (produced by Joe Henry) lies in the way Touissant's ivories tickle Costello's vocal cords. The interplay between the subtle, percussive instrument and the explosive, emotional one is laid bare on the haunting Ascension Day. Elsewhere, Costello's longtime band, the Imposters, and such Touissant compatriots as the Crescent City Horns pick up that ball and run with it, creating tremendous rollicking numbers out of Tears, Tears and More Tears and Nearer to You, two of the seven Touissant classics remade here.
The two bards wrote five tunes together; Costello penned the title track himself. The influence of Louisiana music is everywhere. The Sharpest Thorn is a self-deprecating song about being in a Mardi Gras parade. International Echo features a back-line horn section. And old songs like On Your Way Down, with its warning ''The same people you walk on on your way up/ You might meet up/ On your way down,'' have a new resonance in the wake of natural disaster exacerbated by man-made indifference.
The River in Reverse is a testament in song to one of the few good things to come out of last year's hurricane season: a spirit of collaboration and community that crosses musical, cultural and geographical boundaries.
EVELYN McDONNELL
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http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/s ... 21,00.html
Courier Mail, Australia
The Big Easy still on song
Noel Mengel
June 17, 2006
AFTER the flood, the renaissance. It might take years for the city of New Orleans to recover physically, but the spirit of its musical heritage is already rising in albums featuring legends of the city, Irma Thomas, Dr John and producer/songwriter artist Allen Toussaint.
The biggest surprise is Toussaint's collaboration with Elvis Costello, The River In Reverse (Verve). Costello makes so many records in so many diverse styles that only the most studious fan can keep up, but this coat suits him well, recording with his band The Imposters, plus Toussaint on piano and extraordinary five-piece brass section.
R&B-flavoured music in the digital age presents a problem for this writer: why put on the new stuff – usually a little too brittle and clean – when you can play your vinyl records by Otis Redding or The Neville Brothers?
But the ear detects no such problems here, with enough New Orleans grit to create the pearl, as Costello works through tunes from the Toussaint songbook, some new co-writes and the title tune, an ominous slice of funk which sounds like it might have been on one of Toussaint's great '70s solo albums but is Costello's angry response to the Katrina tragedy.
The sound of the brass section is superb, bitter and sweet, sad and proud, and ultimately, a celebration. Like the record itself. And The River in Reverse is Costello's most acute exploration of a distinctively American music, in the company of some of the masters, since King of America.
Thomas had her first hit in '62 (with Toussaint at the boards). But on After The Rain (Rounder) her voice is still rich and commanding, lifting up songs that range back across the best part of a century, from jazzy pop (Doc Pomus's I Count the Tears) to sultry R&B (Flowers) and handclapping gospel (I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free).
And if you can sit through the soaring power of If You Knew Too Much without feeling the spirit of New Orleans, it's hard to know just what would move you.
New Orleans has never been far from Dr John's mind or fingers, despite his long years of exile, and he continues his run of fine releases that began with 2000's Duke Ellington tribute, Duke Ellington.
On Mercenary (Blue Note) he's back in the hometown, paying homage to the tunes of classic American songbook writer Johnny Mercer (Blues in the Night, Hit the Road to Dreamland etc.).
But the Doctor injects these evergreens with a healthy amount of Mississippi hoodoo and voodoo, whether it's the jazzy interpretation of Moon River, the reworking of I'm an Old Cow Hand into a slinky strut or a brassy reimagining of That Old Black Magic as something that might have come from the pen for Dr John himself.
Magic indeed, but there's plenty of that to be found in all three of these releases.
This disc is on constant play in my car, kitchen, computer and occasionally the living room (until I get kicked out by the 3 females in my life). It's just great. Current scores out of 10 are as follows:-
01. On Your Way Down - 8
02. Nearer To You - 9
03. Tears, Tears And More Tears - 9
04. The Sharpest Thorn - 9
05. Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further? - 10
06. The River In Reverse - 10
07. Freedom For The Stallion - 9
08. Broken Promise Land - 8
09. Ascension Day - 9
10. International Echo - 9
11. All These Things - 9
12. Wonder Woman - 7
13. Six-Fingered Man - 8
01. On Your Way Down - 8
02. Nearer To You - 9
03. Tears, Tears And More Tears - 9
04. The Sharpest Thorn - 9
05. Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further? - 10
06. The River In Reverse - 10
07. Freedom For The Stallion - 9
08. Broken Promise Land - 8
09. Ascension Day - 9
10. International Echo - 9
11. All These Things - 9
12. Wonder Woman - 7
13. Six-Fingered Man - 8
-
And No Coffee Table
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- Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2003 2:57 pm
From the Los Angeles Times:
June 15, 2006
POP MUSIC
Powerful forces of nature
Elvis Costello pairs up with New Orleans' Allen Toussaint for an album set in motion by Katrina.
By Randy Lewis, Times Staff Writer
The yin-yang aspects of the new collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, "The River in Reverse," are as plentiful as they are productive.
Costello is British, Toussaint is American; Costello is 51 and white, Toussaint is 68 and black; Costello emerged from England's anarchic punk rock scene of the mid-'70s, Toussaint from the world of New Orleans R&B of the '50s; Costello is phenomenally prolific, Toussaint puts out records as if they were time capsules; Costello's voice is ragged and assertive, Toussaint's is elegantly silky and laid-back.
On paper they shape up as the Odd Couple, yet the album is earning raves for the dynamic blend of two highly respected, though vastly different, musical sensibilities, brought together in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
"As politically minded pop goes, it trumps such other 2006 albums as Neil Young's 'Living With War,' if only because it isn't so heavy-handed about its intentions," writes All Music Guide. "But what makes the album rather extraordinary is that it's as much celebration as it is protest."
The Sunday Times of London wrote: "Anyone whose relationship with Elvis Costello stretches back to 1980's 'Get Happy!!' will realize that while many of the man's collaborations stretch his talents, this one capitalizes on them."
"Two great songwriters tackle the aftermath of disaster, coming on like punk soul brothers," said the Daily Telegraph.
Katrina's devastation inspired several of the songs, from the title track that Costello dashed off in 10 minutes a few days after the hurricane laid waste to so much of Louisiana and Mississippi, to the choice of Toussaint's "Who's Going to Help Brother Further." But both musicians say it would be short-sighted to look at the project strictly as a response to disaster.
"I must say that Katrina certainly had a lot to do with the timing," Toussaint said in elegant, honey-soaked tones during a joint phone interview recently while the two were in Tokyo on a promotional tour. "But I'm glad to say it didn't have everything to do with everything we sang and played. We were doing what we love to do, which is playing music."
Costello, too, said he has more in mind than Katrina when he sings the words he wrote in "The River in Reverse": "How long does a promise last / How long can a lie be told?"
"There's a drift in the way we're living, a drift to the selfishness, isolation, fear," he said. "Dire circumstances like Katrina just point it up more."Initially, though, Costello had an idea that was far more modest than his collaboration with Toussaint turned out to be. After Katrina, he simply thought the timing was right to record a full album of the music of Toussaint, who wrote and produced records for Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe, Aaron Neville, the Band and dozens, if not hundreds, of others.
But after singing "The River in Reverse" at Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival last fall, barely a week after Katrina, Costello got the idea to include it and some other original material — and to try writing with Toussaint.
Their first song together: "Ascension Day," which reworks the melody of "Tipitina," an instrumental by celebrated New Orleans pianist-singer-composer Roy "Professor Longhair" Byrd.
"That opened it up, to be a mixture," said Costello, who chose the earlier Toussaint songs that appear on the collection.
""I was surprised to see how much of my catalog Elvis was familiar with," Toussaint said. "Since then, I've come to know how much of the world's music he knows."
Vocally, Toussaint takes a back seat to Costello for most of the album, though if Costello and producer Joe Henry had had their way, it would have had more of Toussaint's voice front and center.
"Allen is way too modest about his singing," Costello said. "To be honest, Joe Henry and I had to dupe him into singing the opening verse" of "Who's Gonna Help Brother Further," a song that laments the promise of liberty and justice for all in the land of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. With a dollop of humor, the lyric, written in the '70s, asks:
What happened to the
Liberty Bell
I heard so much about?
It didn't ding dong
It must have dinged wrong
It didn't ding long
"Originally, I was going to sing the first verse, and then Allen was supposed to take it over," Costello says. "I wasn't being sneaky, but I just wanted to hear Allen sing the first verse as a warmup to the second. When he did, Joe and I turned to each other and said, 'That's what we want for the record.' "
Toussaint has long favored a behind-the-scenes role to that of the star.
"It so happens that what I do is something that's not front stage center," Toussaint says. "It's been quite a comfort zone there, and I've been perfectly fine with that. But lately I've caught this speeding train called Elvis Costello."
Adds Costello: "When I listen to the records he worked on that inspired me, I realized that his voice is used in a really subtle way. So I wanted to keep that in these songs."
The slate of about two dozen "River in Reverse" U.S. tour dates, including Sunday night's stop at the Playboy Jazz Festival, extends the teaming to include Costello's longtime associates the Imposters — keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Davey Faragher — plus Toussaint's Crescent City Horns and guitarist Anthony "AB" Brown.
Beyond drawing from the 13 songs of the new album, Costello said he's particularly looking forward to reworking other songs from his catalog, tapping Toussaint's famed skills as an arranger.
"We're somewhat in the position that Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and the guys in the Band were in, having Allen come in and put a new coat of paint on some of their songs," Costello said, referring to Toussaint's arrangements on several of the group's recordings.
"Me and my guys have a pretty firm idea about our musical identity at this point. But I can't wait to try out these songs of ours that Allen has arranged for us."
June 15, 2006
POP MUSIC
Powerful forces of nature
Elvis Costello pairs up with New Orleans' Allen Toussaint for an album set in motion by Katrina.
By Randy Lewis, Times Staff Writer
The yin-yang aspects of the new collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, "The River in Reverse," are as plentiful as they are productive.
Costello is British, Toussaint is American; Costello is 51 and white, Toussaint is 68 and black; Costello emerged from England's anarchic punk rock scene of the mid-'70s, Toussaint from the world of New Orleans R&B of the '50s; Costello is phenomenally prolific, Toussaint puts out records as if they were time capsules; Costello's voice is ragged and assertive, Toussaint's is elegantly silky and laid-back.
On paper they shape up as the Odd Couple, yet the album is earning raves for the dynamic blend of two highly respected, though vastly different, musical sensibilities, brought together in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
"As politically minded pop goes, it trumps such other 2006 albums as Neil Young's 'Living With War,' if only because it isn't so heavy-handed about its intentions," writes All Music Guide. "But what makes the album rather extraordinary is that it's as much celebration as it is protest."
The Sunday Times of London wrote: "Anyone whose relationship with Elvis Costello stretches back to 1980's 'Get Happy!!' will realize that while many of the man's collaborations stretch his talents, this one capitalizes on them."
"Two great songwriters tackle the aftermath of disaster, coming on like punk soul brothers," said the Daily Telegraph.
Katrina's devastation inspired several of the songs, from the title track that Costello dashed off in 10 minutes a few days after the hurricane laid waste to so much of Louisiana and Mississippi, to the choice of Toussaint's "Who's Going to Help Brother Further." But both musicians say it would be short-sighted to look at the project strictly as a response to disaster.
"I must say that Katrina certainly had a lot to do with the timing," Toussaint said in elegant, honey-soaked tones during a joint phone interview recently while the two were in Tokyo on a promotional tour. "But I'm glad to say it didn't have everything to do with everything we sang and played. We were doing what we love to do, which is playing music."
Costello, too, said he has more in mind than Katrina when he sings the words he wrote in "The River in Reverse": "How long does a promise last / How long can a lie be told?"
"There's a drift in the way we're living, a drift to the selfishness, isolation, fear," he said. "Dire circumstances like Katrina just point it up more."Initially, though, Costello had an idea that was far more modest than his collaboration with Toussaint turned out to be. After Katrina, he simply thought the timing was right to record a full album of the music of Toussaint, who wrote and produced records for Lee Dorsey, Ernie K-Doe, Aaron Neville, the Band and dozens, if not hundreds, of others.
But after singing "The River in Reverse" at Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival last fall, barely a week after Katrina, Costello got the idea to include it and some other original material — and to try writing with Toussaint.
Their first song together: "Ascension Day," which reworks the melody of "Tipitina," an instrumental by celebrated New Orleans pianist-singer-composer Roy "Professor Longhair" Byrd.
"That opened it up, to be a mixture," said Costello, who chose the earlier Toussaint songs that appear on the collection.
""I was surprised to see how much of my catalog Elvis was familiar with," Toussaint said. "Since then, I've come to know how much of the world's music he knows."
Vocally, Toussaint takes a back seat to Costello for most of the album, though if Costello and producer Joe Henry had had their way, it would have had more of Toussaint's voice front and center.
"Allen is way too modest about his singing," Costello said. "To be honest, Joe Henry and I had to dupe him into singing the opening verse" of "Who's Gonna Help Brother Further," a song that laments the promise of liberty and justice for all in the land of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. With a dollop of humor, the lyric, written in the '70s, asks:
What happened to the
Liberty Bell
I heard so much about?
It didn't ding dong
It must have dinged wrong
It didn't ding long
"Originally, I was going to sing the first verse, and then Allen was supposed to take it over," Costello says. "I wasn't being sneaky, but I just wanted to hear Allen sing the first verse as a warmup to the second. When he did, Joe and I turned to each other and said, 'That's what we want for the record.' "
Toussaint has long favored a behind-the-scenes role to that of the star.
"It so happens that what I do is something that's not front stage center," Toussaint says. "It's been quite a comfort zone there, and I've been perfectly fine with that. But lately I've caught this speeding train called Elvis Costello."
Adds Costello: "When I listen to the records he worked on that inspired me, I realized that his voice is used in a really subtle way. So I wanted to keep that in these songs."
The slate of about two dozen "River in Reverse" U.S. tour dates, including Sunday night's stop at the Playboy Jazz Festival, extends the teaming to include Costello's longtime associates the Imposters — keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Davey Faragher — plus Toussaint's Crescent City Horns and guitarist Anthony "AB" Brown.
Beyond drawing from the 13 songs of the new album, Costello said he's particularly looking forward to reworking other songs from his catalog, tapping Toussaint's famed skills as an arranger.
"We're somewhat in the position that Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and the guys in the Band were in, having Allen come in and put a new coat of paint on some of their songs," Costello said, referring to Toussaint's arrangements on several of the group's recordings.
"Me and my guys have a pretty firm idea about our musical identity at this point. But I can't wait to try out these songs of ours that Allen has arranged for us."
http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/4774.html
Elvis Costello-Allen Toussaint Disc Debuts on Jazz Chart
By Ben Mattison
17 Jun 2006
A new collaboration between genre-hopping pop star Elvis Costello and New Orleans pianist Allen Toussaint debuted on the Billboard jazz chart this week at number two.
The album, The River in Reverse, includes older songs by Toussaint and newly written tunes by both artists. Costello wrote the title track for a Hurricane Katrina benefit last fall.
Elvis Costello-Allen Toussaint Disc Debuts on Jazz Chart
By Ben Mattison
17 Jun 2006
A new collaboration between genre-hopping pop star Elvis Costello and New Orleans pianist Allen Toussaint debuted on the Billboard jazz chart this week at number two.
The album, The River in Reverse, includes older songs by Toussaint and newly written tunes by both artists. Costello wrote the title track for a Hurricane Katrina benefit last fall.
-
sweetest punch
- Posts: 5982
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:49 am
- Location: Belgium
Elvis Costello is back in action with River in Reverse, which sits at #103 after more than 10,000 copies were snatched up during the album's first week in stores. Only 10.000 copies sold in the USA??John wrote:Unfortunately RIR has only debuted at 103! See http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/153426 ... lines=trueNeil. wrote:Any news from the good ol' US of A? Did it make the Billboard Chart?
What a shame. It makes The Delivery Man look like a huge hit.
TRIT seems to sell rather well in Holland: it has climbed to number 15! See: http://www.showbizzsite.be/nieuws/detai ... sNid=17267
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint boeken ook een stevige vooruitgang. ‘The River in reverse’ stijgt door naar 15.
Also doing good in Belgium: the album entered the charts at number 34. See: http://www.showbizzsite.be/nieuws/detai ... sNid=16974
Van een heel ander kaliber is de plaat van Elvis Costello. Voor ‘River in reverse’ ging hij de samenwerking aan met Allen Toussaint, een R&B-singer/songwriter uit New Orleans. De plaat krijgt plaats 34 toebedeeld.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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verbal gymnastics
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http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news ... ello_x.htm
'A forward 'River in Reverse'
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
Posted 6/20/2006 '
...........usual stuff.
'A forward 'River in Reverse'
By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY
Posted 6/20/2006 '
...........usual stuff.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/ ... our_talk/3
Rolling Stone
Online Exclusive: Tour Talk
In online-only interviews, the Raconteurs, Daron Malakian of System of a Down, Elvis Costello, Jewel, and others talk about what to expect on their summer tours
Elvis Costello
Touring with: Alain Toussaint
Tour starts( uh, really? - J.F.) : June 20th in Oakland, CA
"Central to our repertoire will be "River in Reverse." Alain [Toussaint] has also arranged nine of my songs from my catalog. We're going to have quite a lineup. I don't want to give the game away -- put it this way, they range from quite well-known to songs we've never performed, or I don't recall performing them. He's taken songs I've done right back to the beginning of my career, up to the last 2-3 years. We figured we'd keep consistent to that because a brand-new view of a song can make it shine.
I pick songs that were closer to my heart, even if you might call them obscure to a lot of people's ears -- because then they're brand-new to people. Not all of the songs are sorrowful or accusatory. Some of them are just joyful. Maybe some nights we'll play as duo, some nights as full band. Likewise if we do a song of mine like "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," obviously that won't be too much of a surprise. Allen worked on that back on Spike in 1988. He's rewritten it -- I'm sure it'll have some of the same sounds as the original, but he'll probably bring a few new aspects of the arrangement."
STEVE KNOPPER
Rolling Stone
Online Exclusive: Tour Talk
In online-only interviews, the Raconteurs, Daron Malakian of System of a Down, Elvis Costello, Jewel, and others talk about what to expect on their summer tours
Elvis Costello
Touring with: Alain Toussaint
Tour starts( uh, really? - J.F.) : June 20th in Oakland, CA
"Central to our repertoire will be "River in Reverse." Alain [Toussaint] has also arranged nine of my songs from my catalog. We're going to have quite a lineup. I don't want to give the game away -- put it this way, they range from quite well-known to songs we've never performed, or I don't recall performing them. He's taken songs I've done right back to the beginning of my career, up to the last 2-3 years. We figured we'd keep consistent to that because a brand-new view of a song can make it shine.
I pick songs that were closer to my heart, even if you might call them obscure to a lot of people's ears -- because then they're brand-new to people. Not all of the songs are sorrowful or accusatory. Some of them are just joyful. Maybe some nights we'll play as duo, some nights as full band. Likewise if we do a song of mine like "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror," obviously that won't be too much of a surprise. Allen worked on that back on Spike in 1988. He's rewritten it -- I'm sure it'll have some of the same sounds as the original, but he'll probably bring a few new aspects of the arrangement."
STEVE KNOPPER