Allen Toussaint 'Songbook' ( Live at Joe's Pub), Sept. '13

[johnfoyle]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F8 ... 10?ie=UTF8

Life, Love and Faith
Allen Toussaint

# Audio CD (July 11, 2006)
# Original Release Date: 1972
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------




http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F8 ... nce&n=5174

Southern Nights
Allen Toussaint
# Audio CD (July 11, 2006)
# Original Release Date: 1975

[johnfoyle]

http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/art ... le_id=3052

Paste

Reviews
Writer: Andy Beta
Issue 22

Love, Life, and Faith - 4 stars
Southern Nights - 3.5 stars

Legendary N.O. producer's second and third albums show city’s resilience

As the cradle of jazz, New Orleans' greatest musical son will always be Louis Armstrong, but prolific pianist/producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint is a close second. The main architect of Crescent City R&B, from its second-line beat to its laidback strut, Toussaint worked with Lee Dorsey, Irma Thomas, The Band and Elvis Costello. During the '70s he cut his own records. While employing The Meters to lay down that Big Easy funk foundation, it's not all festivities and leisure on Love, Life, and Faith. Toussaint waxes socially conscious on "Victims of the Darkness," but he balances it with the salacious wiggle of funk classic "Soul Sister." Southern Nights makes for a psychedelic affair as a tactile haze surrounds crisp cuts like "Last Train." The title track's motif swells like a chorus of frogs on a muggy night, proving that Toussaint's resiliently upbeat sound is inseparable from New Orleans.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060 ... 4/-1/rss01

Aspen Times

Toussaint New Orleans gentleman steps to the fore for Jazz Aspen fundraiser


By Stewart Oksenhorn
July 21, 2006


Allen Toussaint's position last month at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Festival was simultaneously familiar and out of the ordinary. As is his custom, Toussaint was in a supporting role, playing along with Elvis Costello & the Imposters. But Toussaint, listed as a special guest, had his name at the top of the bill; his piano was situated at the front of the stage. Costello hits like "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives" were interspersed with Toussaint singing his own songs, and playing the likes of "Big Chief," a signature piano tune from his hometown of New Orleans.

Toussaint is accustomed to being the figure somewhat behind the curtain in the collaborative effort that results in great music. The New Orleans native has been a producer for Lee Dorsey; for Dr. John's most successful albums, including "In the Right Place"; for Patti Labelle, both with the Bluebelles and solo; and perhaps most momentously, for the Meters, the quintessential and enormously influential New Orleans funk group.

"I don't think of myself as an artist upfront at all," said the 68-year-old Toussaint, whose soft, thoughtful manner bespeaks not only the back-seat musical guru, but also the classic Southern gentleman. "My whole thought process has been how to record other artists, not myself. My normal thought of who or what I am is to be the producer or the songwriter. What I expect an artist to be, to live and breathe front and center, I've never seen myself that way."

On occasion, however, the request has been made for Toussaint to step into the spotlight, and he has not hesitated to accede. He has periodically made albums under his own name, and appeared as a headline act. In his return to Aspen, Toussaint will have the stage to himself, leading his band - including the Crescent City Horns, who appeared at the Elvis Costello show last month - to an appearance at Jazz Aspen Snowmass' benefit event, CrescentCitySwing, Saturday, July 22, at Aspen Highlands. Also on the bill is the Soul Rebels, a New Orleans brass band. The event is a fundraiser for Jazz Aspen's education programs.



The recent association with Costello has not only put Toussaint as much in the public eye as he has ever been, it has also allowed him to explore another niche in his favorite process, collaboration.

Costello and Toussaint first met in the early 1980s, when Costello, commissioned to do a Yoko Ono tune, called Toussaint, out of the blue, to work with him on a cover of "Walking On Thin Ice." "He thought it would be a good idea to do it in New Orleans," said Toussaint, "with me, at Sea-Saint," Toussaint's long-standing studio in New Orleans' Gentilly neighborhood. In 1989, Toussaint added piano to Costello's "Spike" album.

Last year, the two were reacquainted in New York, where Toussaint had relocated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The pair appeared together at several benefit concerts and club gigs, and the reunion led swiftly to talk of a full-album collaboration. Last month, "The River in Reverse," a socially conscious, often-outspoken and very soulful album, credited to Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, was released on the Verve Forecast label.

"The River in Reverse" is unusual in its structure. The title track, which sparked the album, was written by Costello alone. Costello and Toussaint co-wrote a handful of songs. The bulk of the album, however, is made up of old Toussaint songs handpicked by Costello. Those songs were re-recorded, usually with Costello on lead vocals and Toussaint on piano. Producing the album was avant-rocker Joe Henry.

"I didn't produce Elvis Costello the way I would produce Dr. John or Patti Labelle," said Toussaint, by phone from his hotel room in New Orleans. "Elvis chose most of the songs, and presented them to me. Normally, in the production, I choose most of the songs. This was a rare case, for me to write songs and with someone else arranging them, then collaborating on how they would sound."

Toussaint says he enjoyed the process "immensely," and largely because of the novel way of working together. "For one thing, it's a real collaboration. In this case, it was us. It was not Elvis or me," he said. "I'd come up with a piano idea, a musical idea, and the next day he'd come up with the story line, the melodic line, the musical progression."

Toussaint was also taken by Costello's enthusiasm, work ethic and natural musicality. "He's so prolific and so energetic and so wide-awake," said Toussaint, who played some 20 dates with Costello this summer. "He seizes the moment - of everything. He seizes immediately, where other people will let things go by. He notices every temperature change. He sees the potential in oak seeds, that they will become oak trees, and works toward that diligently."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/living/15088632.htm


A hot fest weekendBoth banks of the Delaware are hosting outdoor music shows

By JONATHAN TAKIFF
takiffj@phillynews.com 215-854-5960

(extract)

Have you noticed, the third weekend in July is almost always one of the hottest of the season?

This year, like last, the temperature will be raised even more by the masses of people gathering on both sides of the Delaware River for music festivals happening tonight, tomorrow and Sunday.

At the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, a diverse crew of music fans will be coming out in big numbers for the second annual, free admission event dubbed the Big Music Weekend.

Over in Wiggins Park, on the New Jersey side, WXPN will be convening its All About the Music Festival, a three-day, three-stage extravaganza packaged for that non-commercial radio station's open-eared listening audience. Tickets here are very reasonably priced - just $10-$12 at the gate for WXPN members, $18 each day for the general public and $5 for kids 2-12.



Sunday's got some cool stuff going down, too, with the likes of Philly talents Lotus, Amos Lee, The Brakes and BC Camplight and imports including Alejandro Escovedo and the festival capping (on stage at 8:45 p.m) Allen Toussaint. A true blue New Orleans music legend, Toussaint has recently been recording and touring with Elvis Costello. "But Elvis has left the building," said LeMay.

Can't get there more than one day, or not at all? This year, All About the Music Festival sets from the main River Stage will be carried live on WXPN (88.5FM), as well as webcast on http://www.npr.org.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ss ... thispage=2
The Times-Picayune

Cheers for Dr. Phil and pals
Arena concert a fund-raiser for first-responders

Saturday, August 12, 2006
By Keith Spera
Music writer

Allen Toussaint, Brooks & Dunn, Jeff Foxworthy and Brian McKnight all earned big cheers during Thursday's "Dr. Phil and Friends" event at New Orleans Arena. But so did Kimi Seymour.

Celebrity TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw introduced a photo of the Katrina survivor, head in her hands, stranded on an overpass with a shopping cart after a Coast Guard boat rescued her from the roof of her home in eastern New Orleans. In a classic Dr. Phil moment, he then called Seymour out to check on her life's progress.

"You're living in Houston?" McGraw asked.

"No," Seymour corrected. "We're back here in New Orleans."

The arena erupted.

"Dr. Phil and Friends" was both a fund-raiser for first-responders and the centerpiece of McGraw's latest televised mission of mercy to New Orleans. Corporate sponsors bought many of the 5,000 available tickets -- Harrah's New Orleans Casino ponied up $25,000 for the last block to guarantee a sellout -- and gave them to police officers, firefighters and EMS workers.

McGraw preached his gospel of self-reliant self-improvement, more coaching than coddling. "A year from now, your life is going to be better or worse -- it won't be the same," he said. "A big part of what happens is up to you. . . . We create the results in life we believe we deserve."

Then he turned over a stage decorated like Jackson Square to the entertainers. Allen Toussaint, ubiquitous since Katrina, delivered a 20-minute set with a bare-bones, three-piece band, highlighted by his own "Freedom for the Stallion." He also showcased Paul Simon's poignant "American Tune," though not as effectively as at the House of Blues last month with Elvis Costello.

Contemporary R&B crooner Brian McKnight tapped his inner Eddie Van Halen. Eschewing his usual keyboards, he armed himself with an electric guitar and carved out a rugged solo on the ballad "Every Time You Go Away"; acoustic guitars dressed up the clever "Back at One."

He bogged down momentarily in a stretch of ballads, then rebounded. Over a backdrop of Katrina photos, he unspooled the inspirational "Win": "Never give up, never give in/never let a ray of doubt slip in/and if I fall, I'll never fail/I'll just get up and try again."

Jeff Foxworthy, whose wife is from New Orleans, opened his 30-minute set with observations about her Cajun cousins' accents and foibles, and the utilitarian eclecticism of local cuisine: "As long as there's a ditch on the side of the road, nobody's going hungry in New Orleans."

He then eased into his standard shtick. He defined terms from the "Redneck Dictionary," including "wisdom." As in, "My brother had two kidney stones, but he whizzed 'em out." He also ruminated on out-sized body parts and overly revealing attire. "If your mother still drives you to school," he said, "you ain't no gangsta. Pull your pants up."

Kix Brooks, the shorter, dark-haired half of mega-selling country duo Brooks & Dunn, hails from Shreveport. New Orleans was his musical mecca long before Nashville.

So he bemoaned the daiquiri bar that replaced the Old Absinthe Bar and spun an amusing tale about the time he and music partner Ronnie Dunn, flush with their first "Boot Scoot Boogie" success, discovered Bourbon Street Jell-O shots. Thus emboldened, they decided to wow patrons at a nearby country karaoke bar with live renditions of their own hits. Later, Brooks said, he overheard a woman's review: "They look just like 'em but sounded terrible."

By contrast, Brooks & Dunn on Thursday sounded very much like Brooks & Dunn. Deep into their career, they still craft solid albums. The opening "Red Dirt Road," the title track of their 2003 album, was a perfectly credible mid-tempo roadhouse romp, with wistful lyrics that avoid saccharine sweetness.

They fared better when Dunn's hearty tenor, slightly less twangy than Dwight Yoakam's, was out front. When Dunn sang lead, Brooks kicked in guitar and harmonica. When Brooks sang, the lanky Dunn ambled about the stage with a cowbell, nonchalantly tossing drumsticks to the audience as a roadie resupplied him via Hail Mary passes.

After confessing their faith with a gospel choir on "I Believe," they unfurled the red, white and blue anthem "Only in America" as the evening's finale. Three Marines stood at attention, joined by Dr. Phil, Foxworthy, Toussaint, the Brooks & Dunn band -- and the Saintsations cheerleaders.

Just another night in post- Katrina New Orleans.

. . . . . . .

Music writer Keith Spera can be reached at kspera@timespicayune.com or at (504) 826-3470.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.mark-knopfler-news.co.uk/frameset.html

Mark and Jools Holland recently recorded a version of the Hank Williams track, You Win Again to be featured on the upcoming Jools Holland collaboration album Moving Out to the Country. The album will be released through Warners on November 20th. Other artists featured on the album include: Brian Eno, Richard Hawley, Bob Geldof, Lulu, Tom Jones, Marc Almond, India Arie, Paul Carrack, David McAlmont, Ruby Turner, Sam Brown, Dr John, Solomon Burke and Allen Toussaint

[johnfoyle]

http://www.meanfiddler.com/displayPage. ... 5&URLID=19

ALLEN TOUSSAINT

Live at the Jazz Cafe ( London)

Monday 6th November

doors 7pm

£28.50 advance

[johnfoyle]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/MusicRisi ... 954&page=1



NFL's Saints, Rousted by Katrina, March Back Home
Football Team Returning to New Orleans' Superdome to Play First Game There Since Devastating Storm


By KAREN TRAVERS

( extract)

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 24, 2006 — On Monday night, the New Orleans Saints go marching back into the Superdome for a football game that many thought would never happen.

The game will be a star-studded affair with media from around the world descending on the Big Easy. The Goo Goo Dolls, Green Day and U2 will perform before the game, and local singers Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint will sing the national anthem. Events have been occurring around the city for the last several days, including a charity event tonight hosted by quarterback Drew Brees and running back Duece McAllister called "Cocktails for Katrina."

[johnfoyle]

http://www.melkweg.nl/artikelpagina.jsp ... emid=27018

http://www.ticketmaster.nl/html/artist. ... 0TOUSSAINT

Nov.2 '06

ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Melkweg The Max
Amsterdam
Holland

A Blogster has highlighted an album Allen did with John Mayall in 1976 -

http://homeofthegroove.blogspot.com/200 ... tunes.html


- with this cool photo -




http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000 ... 12?ie=UTF8

[johnfoyle]

http://www.rosebudus.com/tourdates/toussaint.html

date venue city state with

10/22/2006 Aladdin Theater Portland OR Evening with
10/23/2006 Earshot Jazz Festival Seattle WA Evening with
10/28/2006 (TBA) New Orleans LA
11/1/2006 Ancienne Belgique Brussels BELGIUM

http://www.abconcerts.be/concerts/conce ... l?c=101480


11/2/2006 Melkweg-Max Amsterdam NETHERLANDS


11/5/2006 Berlin Jazz Fest Berlin GERMANY

http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/de/akt ... e_5756.php


11/6/2006 Jazz Cafe London ENGLAND
11/9/2006 The Music of Bob Dylan

- Lincoln Center New York NY Multi act event
11/30/2006 World Cafe Live Philadelphia PA Evening with
12/1/2006 Avalon Theatre Easton MD Evening with
12/8/2006 The Temple - Mobile Mobile AL The Blind Boys of Alabama
12/17/2006 The Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant Minneapolis MN Evening with
12/18/2006 Steppenwolf Theater Chicago IL Evening with
2/17/2007 Pabst Theater Milwaukee WI
3/22/2007 Blues Alley Supper Club Washington DC w/ Marva Wright
3/23/2007 Blues Alley Supper Club Washington DC w/ Marva Wright
3/24/2007 Blues Alley Supper Club Washington DC w/ Marva Wright
3/25/2007 Blues Alley Supper Club Washington DC w/ Marva Wright

[bambooneedle]

Out of all the places you could go, why would you go to The Netherlands and Belgium?

[johnfoyle]

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... =183760195

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Slim Lively writes -


Allen Toussaint: A National Treasure

Just returned from seeing Allen Toussaint tonight at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. This was my third time seeing Allen over the years and everytime I am completely in awe of not only his performance, but of the output of sensational music he has written over the years. I was aware of all the songs he played tonight and so many others, but it thrills me each and every time. Listening to Allen Toussaint is like witnessing the history of New Orleans R&B firsthand.

When Katrina struck, I, like so many others, was enraptured by the fate of so many missing musicians of the city. When Toussaint was reported missing from the Superdome for a while, I was in fear of the worst. A man pushing 70 cannot be expected to survive in such conditions very easily and he has provided so many people with wonderful memories throughout his lifetime. I breathed a sigh of relief when he was reported amongst the survivors still inside the stadium.

The show tonight was not as heavily attended as should have been expected. Perhaps 350 people showed up, many late arrivals. But those who were there were treated to a show they'll most likely not soon forget.

Without any accompaniment, Allen Toussaint took the stage, with only a grand piano taking up the space. He opened with his instrumental classic "Java" and afterwards began what was a night full of stories about his music. Next up was "Whipped Cream" a song that became a big hit for Herb Alpert. Then a medley of New Orleans R&B standards, all his own compositions: "A Certain Girl," "Mother-In-Law," "Fortune Teller" and "Working In A Coal Mine." The performance never let up and he ran through hit after hit. Too many songs to name them all, but among the others were "Freedom For The Stallion," "Wrong Number, I'm Sorry, Goodbye," "Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)," and "Soul Sister" which he commented that he always seems to get requests from by mostly the white audiences. "Go figure," he stated.

Toussaint told the crowd that he was amazed at how beautiful the city of Portland was. He told us that he understood why people would want to live in such a lovely place and that nobody in their right mind would want to live any place else. "But we need you to come to New Orleans to help us out," he told the crowd, which was met with cheers. "I was born and raised in New Orleans. And I will die in New Orleans, too," he continued.

Of course, no Allen Toussaint show is complete without a tribute to Professor Longhair. He ran through a rendition of "Tipitina" that mixed the Caribbean jump of Fess and classical readings that sounded an awful lot like being at a James Booker concert. He finished this with his personal tribute that he wrote during the filming of "Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together," that he did with Tuts Washington and Professor Longhair, of which Longhair passed away in the middle of production.

He finished his show with a long story about his family outings when he was young to the Creole Country that led into a beautiful version of "Southern Nights." The crowd gave him his second standing ovation of the night; the first being when he walked on to the stage.

There was hardly any pause, even though the lights came on briefly, as he came out for an encore. He spoke fondly of all the people he has had record his music over time and mentioned LaBelle as he began playing the first chords of "Lady Marmalade." But he did not do the number, rather he jumped immediately into "Brickyard Blues (Play Something Sweet)" to a rousing applause. This he followed with the sweet ballad "With You In Mind." As he stood once again to leave the stage he was greeted with a thunderous applause of a very appreciate audience.

I highly recommend to anybody that has an opportunity to go see Allen Toussaint whenever you have the chance. This is one of those shows that you want to run to as quickly as possible. Do not let the chance slip you by. Allen Toussaint is a national treasure. If you have any doubts, they'll quickly be dispelled within the first few songs of his shows. This is the living history of American music in the flesh and it needs to be recognized and honored.

[johnfoyle]

So....anyone going to see AT in London tonight? If so........I hate you!!!!!!!!


I wish I were there.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/gig ... d=23373473

Soulful solo from Mr T

By Jack Massarik,
Evening Standard 07.11.06

Allen Toussaint is a one-man jazz-blues entertainer


It's mystifying why that eloquent singer/pianist/composer and producer Allen Toussaint doesn't work solo more often. As a one-man jazz-blues entertainer, with only his voice and piano for company, this sophisticated old charmer from New Orleans has few rivals.

If he weren't so gregarious, he might not have collaborated with so many other artists during his long life and developed a brilliant solo career instead.

Looking sharp and relaxed in his black pinstripe suit, Mr T invested the keyboard with Delta wisdom last night, spinning out an absorbing evening of quality songs, most of them his own.

Between numbers came memories and a respectful litany of star names - Professor Longhair, Lee Dorsey, Dr John, Boz Scaggs, Frankie Miller, Bonnie Raitt and Elvis Costello among them - who had taught him, collaborated with him or covered his songs.

Dozens more (Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon and the Rolling Stones, for starters) stayed in the in-tray as Java, an elegant ragtime piece written when he was only 16, gave way to a slew of gumbo-spiced hits.

Brickyard Blues was superb and A Certain Girl, Working in a Coalmine, Soul Sister and Everything I Do Be Funky all had that infectiously lop-sided shufflebeat that belongs to Lousiana musicians alone. If you needed just one man to make your party go with a soulful swing, who else you gonna call?

[johnfoyle]

http://thevinylword.blogspot.com/2006/1 ... -cafe.html



Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Allen Toussaint at the Jazz Cafe

Nick blogs -



Having missed Allen Toussaint when he performed in London a few months ago I made sure that I caught his act at the Jazz Cafe last night, despite the high ticket price. I was not disappointed. Looking decidedly dapper in a smart pinstripe suit and sitting at a grand piano with no accompaniment, he ranged through a good selection of his many compositions, plus one or two others, for over an hour and a half. Kicking off with Java, made famous by Al Hirt, he launched into a medley of some of his New Orleans classic songs, including Ernie K-Doe's A Certain Girl and Mother in Law, Benny Spellman's Fortune Teller and Lee Dorsey's Working in a Coalmine.

Allen has recently recorded an album with Elvis Costello so naturally he played a couple of tracks from that, but it was the New Orleans R and B that made the show, including several Lee Dorsey numbers, Wrong Number, an early recording by Aaron Neville, and the wonderful Lipstick Traces, the A (or B side depending how you look at it) of Fortune Teller by Benny Spellman. He included a couple of Professor Longhair tracks - his 'patron saint' as he put it - and How Come My Dog Don't Bark, but mostly it was a demonstration of what a great songwriter, and fantastic pianist, he is. Never the greatest of singers, he nevertheless did justice to everything he attempted and Southern nights (a rare hit for him as a recording artist) was a highlight coming, as it did, after some fascinating reminiscences about the stories he heard while visiting relatives in the Louisiana bayous as a child.

Allen may be 68 but he still looks and sounds great. So many of those he made stars of have passed away that he remains one of the few remaining greats of New Orleans R and B which has always been my personal favourite style of music. Allen was one of the reasons I first visited the Big Easy and it was good to see and hear him once again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From Charlie Gillett's forum -

http://www.charliegillett.com/phpBB2/vi ... php?t=2470

johnfoyle wrote:
How I wish I'd been there

-------------------------------------------------------

Charlie responds -


I was that lucky man, and it was as blissful as could
have been imagined. The expectations were unreasonably
high, but Allen delivered everything we could have
wanted, and then some more.

It was interesting to hear so many little Professor
Longhair figures on the right hand in the spaces
between the vocals on the early hits - Mother in Law,
Lipstick Traces, etc - and I was impressed by the
sheer size of Allen's hands. Not only was his
thumb-to-little finger stretch impressive (and often
used), but those hands sure are chunky.

My favourite bit of the evening was his story of
visiting his Creole grandparents as a child, and being
amazed to hear his very correct father switch to an
almost unintelligible patois. That led into Southern
Nights, never one of my favourite Toussaint songs, but
now I get the point.

[johnfoyle]

No Elvis - great stuff all the same -

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/i ... #more-1257



11/10/06

Dylan Tribute Concert Trumps Dylan Dance Show By A Lot

One day after Twyla Tharp’s astoundly dreadful Broadway production “The Times They Are A Changin’â€

[johnfoyle]

http://agencyinsider.blogspot.com/2006/ ... ll-ed.html


11/22/2006
Subjects and Colleagues Recall Ed Bradley

(extract)

Jimmy Buffett, accompanied by Allen Toussaint on piano, had just finished singing "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" at the memorial service for his friend Ed Bradley yesterday when a tall, white-haired figure ascended the pulpit for a eulogy unbilled in the program. It was Bill Clinton.

[johnfoyle]

This early image of Allen is new to me -

[johnfoyle]

http://randombeing.livejournal.com/203146.html

' Here's Allen Toussaint and his wounded, yet proud,
reading of "Mama, You Been On My Mind" from the
star-studded NYC Dylan tribute. (I'm doling them out
slowly. Still to come: Patti Smith, The Roots, Bob
Mould, The Cards.) The arrangement here is barely
recognizable as "Mama," but it's stunning nonetheless.
The happysad piano following each chorus is especially
beautiful as it tumbles down the staircase of the
singer's heart, rolls across the stage and kerplunks
into the audience.'

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... 83649634E2

[johnfoyle]

http://www.charliegillett.com/phpBB2/vi ... php?t=3500


Marshall Sehorn died on Dec. 5th 2006 in New Orleans.

Anyone with even a passing interest in New Orleans music ought to know the name of Marshall Sehorn, and his major contributions as a manager, label boss, producer, developer and all-round huckster....

Here's a great obituary written by Red Kelly, on his blog: http://redkelly.blogspot.com/



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Sehorn was one of the last true 'record men' in the mold of people like Don Robey, Johnny Vincent and Bobby Robinson. He grew up in North Carolina where he "used to ride around all night listening to John R and Hossman over WLAC. they were always playin' blues..." He went on to play guitar in a 'beach music' band, but realized he wasn't good enough to make it as a performer. He introduced himself to Bobby Robinson at a record convention in Miami in 1958, stretching the truth by telling him he was a promoter and a dee-jay. Robinson told him to look him up if he ever got to New York. Sehorn was up there within a week, and through sheer energy and persistance got himself a job as Fire and Fury's Southern promotion man (that's Sehorn on the right in the photo above, pitching a record to WLAC's 'Big Hugh Baby').

When Sehorn heard Wilbert Harrison performing Kansas City with his band down in North Carolina, he convinced Robinson to let him bring him to New York to record it. The single would go on, of course, to become one of the biggest records ever made, topping both the R&B and pop charts in the spring of 1959 and spawning dozens of cover versions. Despite selling over 4 million copies, Robinson found himself embroiled in a lawsuit, with Savoy Records claiming they had a contract on Harrison, and Leiber & Stoller demanding credit as the composers. Nevertheless, Sehorn had delivered the label's biggest seller ever, and Robinson's faith in him as his 'man on the streets' south of the Mason-Dixon line had paid off.

On a trip to New Orleans in 1960 to cut Bobby Marchan's amazing There Is Something On Your Mind, Sehorn met Allen Toussaint. Marshall loved the city, and convinced Bobby Robinson to come to Sugar Town to meet local phenom Lee Dorsey the following year. As the story goes, they hit it off, and Robinson and Lee took a kids' Ninth Ward street chant and worked up Ya-Ya over a couple of beers. Sehorn convinced Toussaint to help him with the arrangement, even though he couldn't play on the record due to his contract with Joe Banashak. Using local pianist Marcel Richardson and members of Harold Battiste's AFO Studio Combo instead, he delivered yet another giant million seller to the company in the summer of 1961. Marshall continued to run sessions in New Orleans for the label until it folded in 1963 due to a series of financial mishaps.

Sehorn has said that he 'learned the ropes' of the business from Robinson, and a 'google' on him certainly bears that out. He is listed as a co-writer of Sonny Boy Wiiliamson's One Way Out, the song the Allman Brothers made famous on their Fillmore East album. A look at the BMI Repertoire Database shows him listed as co-writer of some 41 other tunes - his 'co-writers' being Fire/Fury artists like Wilbert Harrison, Elmore James and Lightnin' Hopkins. He had created his own publishing company (Rhinelander Music) by the early sixties and, in what was standard practice for record companies in those days, took a piece of the composer's royalties for himself. Like Sehorn said, he learned from the best, with Robinson being listed as writer or co-writer of some 368 titles.

Now that Robinson was out of the picture, Marshall was on his own and approached Allen Toussaint about doing some arrangements for Lee Dorsey. He had hooked up with Southland Distributors in Atlanta, and wanted to record some 'nonsense' type songs to try and re-capture the success of Ya-Ya. Toussaint did him one better and wrote the amazing Ride Your Pony for him before they entered the studio. With the record 'in the can' and ready to go, the owner of Southland died suddenly, and left Sehorn looking for a label to release it on. His New York connections paid off, and it was picked up by Larry Utall who released it on his AMY subsidiary. When it broke into the top ten R&B (top 40 pop) in the summer of 1965, Sehorn asked Toussaint to come to New York and back up Lee at the Apollo Theatre. That was where the idea of a partnership was born, and by the end of the year they had formed 'SANSU Enterprises'.

The way I heard it, the name comes from an inside studio musician's joke. Allen's nickname around town when he was coming up had been 'two cents', a play on his last name. They figured that with all the hits he was having lately, they'd better start calling him 'five cents'... anyway, Sansu is the phonetic English pronunciation of the creole French for five cents - 'Cinq Sous'. Apparently a big fan of those kind of acronyms, the new partners went on to form a publishing company called 'Mar-Saint' and subsidiary labels 'Tou-Sea' and 'DEESU' (ten cents?).

Sehorn was able to release some 'product' right away on things he had the rights to (or claimed to) from his Fire days (like Wilbert Harrison and Maurice Williams on Deesu), and worked out a deal with Cosimo Matassa to lease material by other New York based acts that were recording for Robinson's Enjoy label (like Joe Haywood) to his own White Cliffs imprint.

The first artist to record on Sansu was the great Betty Harris. Betty had hit the top ten with her 1963 version of Solomon Burke's Cry To Me (on Jubilee), and met Toussaint while on tour in 1965.

Sehorn and Toussaint caught the Neville Sounds playing down in the French Quarter, and hired the rhythm section as their own version of Booker T & the MGs in 1968. They would go on to back-up so many great artists for the label, as well as recording some of the coolest records ever as The Meters (it was Sehorn's NYC connections that got them signed with Josie, and consequently Cissy Strut actually broke first in New York!).

When the proverbial shit hit the fan with the collapse of Cosimo Matassa's Dover Records Distributing and the seizure of his landmark studio, Sansu was like the 'last man standing' in New Orleans. Sehorn pulled together the financing to build their own plant, the legendary Sea-Saint Studio on Clematis Avenue.

There are the stories, of course. Stories of an unidentified member of The Meters showing up at the studio with an axe because he wasn't getting paid... of Betty Harris maintaining that the reason she turned her back on the whole thing in 1970 was because Sehorn never paid her a dime. This is the old time 'record man' in him, doing it as he was taught 'back in the day'...

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Betty Harris has returned to the stage and, by all reports, sounds as great as ever. When she was in Australia performing at a benefit concert last year, she noticed a compilation of her Sansu material in a record shop. She contacted the company that had released it (AIM records) and asked them who licensed the songs to them. They directed her (and her attorney) to a firm called Gulf Coast Music in Louisiana. This turned out to be a holding company set up by the Federal Government to manage Sehorn's music related assets after he declared bankruptcy in the mid-90s. Under the threat of litigation, the company agreed to award Betty's Sansu masters, and all subsequent rights to them, to her. In the middle of all of this, Christine Aguilera sampled Nearer To You on her Back To Basics album . Aguilera's record company (Sony) claims to have licensed the track from Charly in the UK, and has refused to recognize Harris' claim to it so far. There is a lawsuit pending. Betty just wants to, finally, get paid.

Although it is Allen Toussaint who (deservedly) gets the credit as the producer of so many great New Orleans records, if you look closely the credits invariably say; "Produced By Allen R. Toussaint & Marshall E. Sehorn". There is, of course, no way of knowing what his actual contributions may have been in the studio on any given recording, but the fact that he 'took care of business' and allowed Toussaint the space to create, is really enough, I guess. Without him, music as we know it would not exist.

I'd like to thank him for that.

Red Kelly

[johnfoyle]

http://austinweeklynews.1upsoftware.com ... M=82969.77

Austin Weekly News, IL

Toussaint pays a visit to Steppenwolf Theatre
New Orleans legend treats fans in intimate setting

By ROBERT FELTON

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Legendary New Orleans jazz singer Allen Toussaint brought his vaunted musical gifts to Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, on Dec. 18 to a rousing crowd of several hundred fans. The singer/songwriter/composer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer delivered "An Evening with Allen Toussaint." True to the title, the musician's quiet and unassuming demeanor was the perfect complement to the living-room design of the stage. The tile floor and frame house outline with musicians and intimate portraits in the background created a comfortable feel.

Toussaint himself took to the stage shortly after his band members: Breeze on Saxophone, Chris on Bass and Tommy on Drums. Toussaint, whose hair is largely silver save for peppered roots, was attired in a black and white-striped suit punctuated by a hot pink tie.

One of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B, despite his understated look and demeanor, Toussaint has shyed away from the spotlight throughout his illustrious career. Nevertheless, he has carved a distinct niche in contemporary music. Many his songs are now so familiar they are like branches on contemporary music's tree: "Working on a Coal Mine," "Yes We Can Can," and "Walking with Mr. Lee" were all oft-covered tunes that he wrote. Artists as varied as the Neville Brothers and Rolling Stones covered his song "Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)." In the '60s and '70s, he also oversaw the productions of Fats Domino, Neville Brothers and Jesse Hill, whose "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" in 1960, was a R&B top five hit.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote numerous hits for artists, including Lee Dorsey, Willie West, The Showmen, The Meters and Solomon Burke.

At the opening of his 90-minute set, Toussaint performed "Mother-In-Law," an R&B number he wrote for Ernie K-Doe in the early 1960s. The song became a smash at the time and in the hands of its original composer, it still manages to be both musically sophisticated and cunningly farcical as he sings about meeting his girlfriends' mother: "The worst person I know/ mother-in law, mother-in law/she worries me so/If she'd leave us alone/we would have a happy home/sent from down below." Despite the cynicism in the lyrics, Toussaint performs it perfectly as the humor in the song downplays the biting connotations attached.

Toussaint's glorious piano work was on full display while he performed "Thank you Lord," a song featuring an elaborate opening solo where his piano duels rhythmically with the bass, coaxing the hesitant saxophone to join the fray.

The range of Toussaint's talents is considerable, at moments performing gentle blues hymns on traveling with his father to the country to visit their Creole relatives in "Southern Night," then unleashing an jazz-infused swing rave-up "American Ladies are Hot," a song that allowed saxophonist Breeze to lead the tune as the drums, bass and piano all bounce off, creating a sound of Funk in its infancy.

He sang "Yes We Can Can" next, a song that sounds radically different with saxophone draped over the throbbing bass and chiming piano. When Toussaint and Breeze repeated the chorus in sync with each other at various vocal speeds, it was truly a time-stopping moment.

Toward the conclusion of his set, Toussaint briefly spoke about the Katrina disaster, and about what he plans to do during the rebuilding of his own home in New Orleans.

"Right now I'm staying in New York until my home is ready in New Orleans," said Toussaint. "I plan to return when that time arrives. I've lived in New Orleans all my life, I cannot stop now."

Toussaint also expressed his appreciation for the residents of Chicago, who gave their time, energy and funds to assisting in the Katrina relief effort.

"I am deeply grateful for all the support we in New Orleans received from Chicago during the events of last year," said Tossaint.

He also talked about his collaboration with Rock 'n' Roll chameleon Elvis Costello on the recently released album River in Reverse.

"Costello and I have actually known each other for a while; however, when Katrina occurred, we began doing benefit concerts together to help raise funds for the rebuilding," said Toussaint. "I had written several songs with themes dealing with the subject of unity and spirituality that we both agreed would make for a timely recording, given the events of the prior year and a half."

The Allen Toussaint concert was a one-night-only special engagement that represented his first intimate Chicago appearance since he began touring with Elvis Costello earlier in the year. The concert perfectly encapsulated Toussaint's nearly 60-year career, reminding those outside of his native New Orleans of his musical genius

[Otis Westinghouse]

This early image of Allen is new to me

And the simplified spelling of his surname.

Watched a very nice doc about AT on BBC2 or 4 the other night, which I believe was shown a month or so ago. In fact, it must have been more, and it must have been discussed here, cos it ended with studio and live footage with EC. I think I caught a bit of that when it first aired, but missed the rest, which was all very interesting. He's an incredibly likeable man. As Paul Simon said of him and his singing, understated. And full of grace.

[johnfoyle]

http://onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/t ... html?10897

OnMilwaukee.com, Milwaukee

Feb. 18, 2007

Master craftsman Toussaint plys his trade at Pabst

by Paul Cebar, Special to OMC

Let me begin this review with a bit of a disclaimer. Near the end of the 70's, I had the great pleasure to work my way into the captivating world of playing in a band by rubbing shoulders with my fellow R&B Cadets (John Sieger, Robin Pluer, Mike Sieger, Cy Costabile, et al.).

Aside from John's wonderful original music, the band's repertoire was the result of a headlong effort to discover and rediscover the wonders of 50's, 60's and 70's R&B. At certain times in the life of the band, fully half of the non-original material that the band performed came from the pen of one Allen Toussaint.

As Elvis Costello so craftily demonstrated this past year on his bracing, "The River In Reverse" collaboration with Mr. Toussaint, in his own reticent, self-effacing, seemingly offhand though effortlessly elegant manner, Allen Toussaint has crafted an enormously expansive body of work that rewards scrutiny and re-examination with an impossibly winning mixture of light-heartedness, gut-level soul-searching and sly, street-side philosophizing. Funky as hell to boot .

A quintessential writer-arranger (and virtuosic pianist), Toussaint first made his mark as a wizardly, behind the curtain creator of vehicles for an eccentric grab bag of insouciant streetwise characters in that most colorful hotbed of street level eccentricity that was late 50's-early 60's New Orleans. While allowing the likes of Lee Dorsey, Ernie K. Doe, Benny Spellman and truly countless others to "keep it real," Toussaint's delicious craft allowed him to "keep it dreamy, debonair and ever so modest." Irresistible, in a word.

Fitting then, that on this his first headlining tour in an awfully long time if not ever, Allen and his lean five-piece band (more on that in a minute) saw fit to launch into a medley to introduce those less familiar in the audience with the scope of the initial burst of creativity that put his collaborators on the map and his nuanced musicality at the root of many a later musical development.

Beginning with "A Certain Girl," featuring an effective interpolation of "Rhapsody In Blue" in his piano solo, proceeding through "Mother-In-Law" (both tunes originally recorded by Ernie K Doe), followed by a pungent "Fortune Teller" (cut originally by Benny Spellman) punctuated by a caustic guitar solo from New Orleans veteran Renard Poche, romping through "Working In A Coalmine" (written for the impish auto mechanic, Lee Dorsey) during which Allen demanded and immediately
got the audience's help on the background vocal "whoops" ("I need my whoops" was how he phrased it) and finishing with a reprise of "A Certain Girl," this was music making of high spirits, loving memory and spare mastery.

After recounting Benny Spellman's amusing arrogance in the wake of his role as the bass voice on K Doe's "Mother-in-Law," Toussaint slid into "Lipstick Traces," his vehicle for Spellman, replete with a lovely, searching "Won't You Come On Home?" bridge after which he quickly remarked, "I did get Benny off my back for a couple of minutes with that one."

Then, a stirring version of "All These Things," his ballad written for a very young Art Neville with a terrific unison figure executed with "Aw shucks, that was nothing" aplomb by the seasoned combo

After explaining that this tune was one of his entrees to the country market through a cover by Joe Stampley, he then
self-deprecatingly mentioned that his recording of the following number sold five copies but that didn't matter once Betty Wright recorded it and took it to the upper reaches of the R&B charts.

A storming version of the miraculous "Shoorah, Shoorah" ensued. He then spoke of the inspiration provided by a sandy- haired Scotsman whose genuine soulfulness and reliance upon warm Pabst tickled him into writing a few of his favorite tunes.
(Though he never mentioned his name, this was the woefully under-recognized Frankie Miller.)

Cue "Brickyard Blues (Play Something Sweet)" and its plea for directness plus that wonder of a bridge. "It's enough to make a light in the dark; It's enough to make a bite into a bark...."

Then, addressing the "plenty of curses and lots of blessings" of the Katrina experience; one of the latter being the byproduct of bringing Toussaint and his band out of New Orleans and into the Pabst, he spoke of the experience of working with Costello and of Elvis' encouraging recognition of the near prophetic prescience of Allen's back catalog. (Toussaint is far too modest to speak of his own work as prophetic, however.)

He prayerfully slipped into his curbside entreaty, "Freedom For The Stallion" and damned if it didn't strike my ear as the crafty and soothing elder brother to Curtis Mayfield's masterful "People Get Ready". The Pabst is a fine dark place for crying tears of joy and otherwise:

"Freedom For The Stallion, Freedom for the Mare and her Colt
Freedom for the Baby Child who has not grown old enough to vote
Lord , Have Mercy, What you gonna do
About the people who are praying to you?
They've got men making laws that destroy other men
They make Money God, It's a Doggone Sin
Oh Lord, You've Got To Help Us Find A Way"

Then, into "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" initially recorded for Lee Dorsey's "YesWeCan" album and last year, the centerpiece of "The River In Reverse." An unblinking examination of our responsibility to each other in terms much more playful than most such things,

"What happened to the Liberty Bell
I heard so much about?
Did it really ding dong?
Ding Dong
It Must Have Dinged Wrong
It Didn't Ding Long."

With a reminder that it's Carnival Time, the maestro and his crew paid a visit to the kingdom of one of his mentors, Professor Longhair, in the guise of a medley of "Big Chief" and "Tipitina" offered instrumentally with heartbreaking minor key restatements of the themes in a ruminative, meditative fingering of the grain of the experiential weight of these ostensible frolics. Intimations of loss, of the thinker abstracted from the festivities, of the flight of fancy... followed by a quick glance at "Yes We Can" with a delightful, rapid-fire accelerating vocal duet with tenor saxophonist Amedee "Breeze" Castenell.

Following the introduction of band members, Chris Severin on bass, Herman Le Beau on drums, Poche on guitar and the aforementioned "Breeze in Db" on saxophone, Toussaint began to muse with pianistic punctuation about trips he, his father and siblings had taken "out to the country where the old folk live." Beyond the reaches of electricity, "none of that big B-flat Big City Hum"

Sketching a hierarchy of Creole forebears, "This was before the world belonged to children... We didn't know grown folk lied yet," he rhapsodically conjured the extended family as self-sufficient and ever so contentedly sitting on the porch looking to the moonlight at play in the leaves above, "that soft sweet light show shining".

Drifting into the near falsetto frailty of "Southern Nights" and forever rescuing it from the overplayed, glib vicissitudes of Glen Campbell's hit version, this was the vulnerable, enormous beating heart of a grand storyteller sweetly intoning his long-hidden empathetic embrace of the ineffable thickness of the world. Among other things. With a full band fanfare of the theme, it was off to the wings with a standing ovation.

Then, as an encore, two tunes that have played large roles in others' repertoires (Bonnie Raitt and Boz Scaggs to name a couple)."What Do You Want The Girl To Do?", a laceratingly self-critical examination of one's cowardice in the face of unconditional love. And "What Is Success?", an examination of the tangled motives of Art and Finance couched in a tune more lilting than it has any right to be. "Truly believing and trying over and over again." Ah, the gift economy!

Another glance at "Southern Nights," with an especially piquant two-fisted piano storm and off into the night.

The stripped-down five-piece band offered a tantalizing glimpse into the playfulness and exploratory vigor of Toussaint's process. I've made pilgrimages to encounter the spectacle and pageantry of Allen Toussaint's New Orleans performances replete with scores of impeccably scored horns, choruses of lusty background singers and an occasionally attendant surfeit of Vegas-like glitz and superficiality. Miraculously, virtually none of that tang of the tawdry clogged the musical palate Saturday evening. His is a fragile and intimate muse. What a lean dream. Bravo and huzzah a thousand times.

[johnfoyle]

https://birchnorthparktheatre.net/cgi-b ... l?P_SEQ=39&

Allen Toussaint-Solo Performance

The Stephen and Mary Birch North Park Theatre
2891 University Avenue, Ste. 1
San Diego, CA 92104-2929

Tuesday May 15 2007


http://www.bendweekly.com/news/5650.html

May 11,2007
Toussaint is one singular attraction

by George Varga

Anyone hearing Allen Toussaint perform live who is unfamiliar with his extensive musical track record might think they've stumbled into a show by the world's most versatile one-man cover band.

Think again.

Toussaint doesn't simply cover songs that have been featured on albums or on stage by artists as varied as Elvis Costello, the Rolling Stones, Devo, Otis Redding, The Judds, Lee Dorsey, Robert Palmer, Bonnie Raitt, the Grateful Dead, Warren Zevon, Irma Thomas and Jamaican reggae stalwarts The Mighty Diamonds. Rather, this soft-spoken New Orleans music legend and 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of fame inductee performs songs he wrote that were subsequently recorded by the Rolling Stones, Devo, Redding, et al. He'll do just that Tuesday night at the Birch North Park Theatre, his first San Diego solo date since a 1985 Belly Up Tavern gig.

"I will definitely try and choose songs that were made popular by other artists, the most popular songs I can think of. I will always try and cover all of those, because those are the ones that put me on the map," said Toussaint, who has written more than 700 songs since launching his career as a teenager in the 1950s.

"And I'll do other songs of mine, good-feeling songs that didn't make it (commercially), but since we're here and we have the evening I'd like people to hear them. I use a set list, although I may deviate from it. But I do use one. Because by the eighth or ninth tune, I don't want to repeat what I've done already, or wonder 'Did I do that one yet?'"

For good measure, this tireless singer, songwriter, arranger and producer will also include a few favorites by other artists. Likely candidates, he predicted, include Bob Dylan's "Mama, You've Been on My Mind," Paul Simon's "American Song," and "How Come My Dog Don't Bark (When You Come 'Round)," a 1950s chestnut by Prince Partridge, one of New Orleans' most obscure musicians, then and now.

As prolific as he is multitalented, Toussaint, 69, is also one of pop music's foremost producers and arrangers.

His past clients have ranged from Simon, The Band, LaBelle and Paul McCartney to such fellow New Orleans music luminaries as Dr. John, The Meters and The Wild Tchoupitoulas. He has also made more than a dozen solo albums, dating back to 1958, and last year earned rave reviews for his "The River in Reverse" duo album and tour with Elvis Costello, who hails Toussaint as "a master of music."

His impact also extends to his incisive piano playing, which draws equally from blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, funk, rock, jazz and classical. And Toussaint's wonderfully soulful singing, simultaneously earthy and urbane, so influenced blue-eyed English rock-soul star Robert Palmer and Little Feat's Lowell George that both based a fair part of their vocal styles on his.

Palmer scored an FM radio favorite in the mid-1970s with his version of Toussaint's "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley." George recorded two Toussaint songs - "Two Trains" and "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" - the first with Little Feat, the second on his only solo album in 1979.

"I feel highly flattered," Toussaint said of the musical emulation by George and Palmer, both now deceased. "For one thing, I'm flattered they were interested enough to not only give it a listen, but to go and record it, which meant they had to live with it and learn it. It's a wonderful feeling and I can't express enough gratitude for the people who have covered songs of mine.

"Lowell had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I ever encountered. He was a very dear man, musically, and as a human being. And he was funky as all get out! But he also had a beautiful mind and was so innovative."

The same description applies to Toussaint, who has earned accolades from countless musicians and is noted for both his spotlight-shunning demeanor and his consistently dapper appearance. A father of three adult children, he was just 13 when he co-founded his first band, The Flamingos, with future New Orleans music stars Snooks Eaglin on guitar and Ernest Kador Jr. (the future Ernie K-Doe) on vocals.

At 17, Toussaint had his big breakthrough when famed producer Dave Bartholomew hired him to play the piano parts on three Fats Domino songs, including "I Want You to Know," while Domino was away on tour.

"Fats loved it, and he said he couldn't tell if it was him or me playing piano on those three songs. That was one of the greatest compliments of my life," he recalled by phone from New Orleans last week.

"After that recording session I was taken a bit more seriously by others who did sessions. As both a recording man and a businessman, Dave Bartholomew was the best mentor I could have chosen. Musically, (legendary New Orleans pianist and singer) Professor Longhair was quite an influence on my life."

During the same year he subbed for Domino on record, Toussaint replaced Huey "Piano" Smith in guitarist Earl King's band. In 1956, at 18, he had his first song recorded, "Long Lost Love," by Roland Smith. He has rarely looked back since.

Like few others, Toussaint never wastes a single note or emotion in his songs. The result is a sense of musical concision that almost verges on selflessness. "I've always liked songs more than I've liked me," he explained. "I have more interest in how to make the song and singer work. And when I'm the song and the singer, I still have priorities. The song is going on, so I have to remember that and let it live, as if I'm a separate entity from it. I love arranging and to see that one part of the song compliments the other, by laying back when you should and being there when you should."

Like many other displaced New Orleans musicians, Toussaint had to flee his hometown in the wake of Hurricane Katrina two years ago.

He is now living in New York, but flies back home twice a month to check on the rebuilding of his Gentilly neighborhood home. His Sea-Saint recording studio was so severely damaged by Katrina that he doesn't know if it can even be rebuilt. Regardless, he is determined to move back to New Orleans as soon as possible.

"I'm optimistic things are progressing," he said. "It will take about another 10 years for us to reach some level of normality, but it will be better than ever because there are people here working very diligently. It's just a very slow process."

Copley News Service

The Toussaint songbook

From "Whipped Cream," used as the theme for TV's "The Dating Game," to songs for dozens of artists on either side of the Atlantic, Allen Toussaint has written more memorable music than almost anyone else around. Here's a partial list of songs by this New Orleans music legend that have been covered by other artists:

- "Working in the Coal Mine" (Lee Dorsey, Devo, The Judds)

- "Fortune Teller" (Benny Spellman, The Rolling Stones)

- "Freedom for the Stallion" (Boz Scaggs, The Oak Ridge Boys, Elvis Costello)

- "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" (Lowell George, Boz Scaggs)

- "Ya Ya" (Lee Dorsey, John Lennon, Ike & Tina Turner, Buckwheat Zydeco)

- "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" (Procol Harum, Three Dog Night, Maria Muldaur, Frankie Miller)

- "Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)" (Benny Spellman, The O'Jays, Amazing Rhythm Aces)

- "Two Trains" (Little Feat, Supercharge)

- "A Certain Girl" (Herman's Hermits, Warren Zevon)

- "Sneaking Sally Through the Alley" (Robert Palmer, The Mighty Diamonds)

- "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky (From Now On)" (Lee Dorsey, Lou Donaldson)

- "All These Things" (Art Neville, Joe Stampley)

- "Pain in My Heart" (Otis Redding)

- "Mother-In-Law" (Ernie K-Doe)

- "Whipped Cream" (Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass)

- "Ruler of My Heart" (Irma Thomas)

- "Get Out of My Life" (Grateful Dead)

- "What Is Success?" (Bonnie Raitt)

- "Keep It Together" (Rufus)

- "Shoorah Shoorah" (Betty Wright)

- "Yes We Can Can" (Lee Dorsey, The Pointer Sisters)

- "Southern Nights" (Glen Campbell)

- "Java" (Al Hirt)

- "Night People" (Robert Palmer)

- "It's Raining" (Lou Ann Barton)

[johnfoyle]

Another long, interesting profile -

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... PPJ751.DTL



Toussaint explores life outside Big Easy

Katrina forced him out of New Orleans but the R&B maestro's roots run deep

Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic

Monday, May 14, 2007

(extract)


Allen Toussaint never left New Orleans. He spent virtually his entire distinguished career playing piano, singing, writing songs and making records with other people in recording studios in New Orleans. Until Katrina.

"I just never found any reason to leave," says the impeccably attired Toussaint, sitting in his hotel room before a performance Friday at the Herbst Theatre.

He was making a similar solo piano appearance as part of the eighth annual S.F. Jazz Festival Spring Season and ate a takeout salad in his room before the Town Car came to bring him to the show. His hotel suite is spotless. The only sign of occupancy is a closed laptop sitting on a table. He is traveling by himself. On other tours, his son serves as road manager. His daughter works as his assistant from New Orleans (another daughter lives in Los Angeles). He recently signed with San Francisco's boutique Rosebud Agency, the first booking agent of his career.

For Toussaint, 69, a musician who has spent his life in the studio, performing his music outside New Orleans has been a revelation. He expresses surprise at how well the crowds know his music and the songs he hears requested ("Things I haven't thought about since the day we recorded them," he says).

"One other thing that's really interesting is the instant gratification of what you're doing," he says, "as opposed to me being in the studio and waiting for the red light, for the record to come out to see how it happens, whether they play it enough. But here you play something and there the people are. Right there. That is something else. It's a lovable situation. I guess I could see how some people could spend so much time out there once they develop that as a way of life."

Backstage at the Herbst, he carries a shopping bag with a few T-shirts and some Mardi Gras beads to give out to the audience. He pulls out a pair of reading glasses and reviews his set list, cocking an ear to opening act Henry Butler, an amazing blind pianist also from New Orleans who Toussaint knows well. When he takes the stage at the Herbst, the lean, genial man in the dark suit, sequined tie and white socks and sandals scoots up to the piano bench. "This comes with a warning," he says. "Any Britney Spears fans out there?"

[johnfoyle]

Jan on listserv has highlighted some recent new stuff by Allen -

http://cdbaby.com/cd/gaudet3



Christina Gaudet
SEASAINT SESSIONS

© 2007 Christina Gaudet (634479469862)

SEASAINT SESSIONS
Produced by ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Music by ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Vocals: CHRISTINA GAUDET, ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Piano: ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Percussion: REGINALD TOUSSAINT

http://www.amazon.com/Seasaint-Sessions ... 842&sr=1-2



http://cdbaby.com/cd/rhythmgroove



Rhythm & Groove Club
Groove Approved

© 2006 Jeffrey Craig Cook (837101143332)


This RHYTHM & GROOVE CLUB was recorded in NEW ORLEANS at the famous SEA SAINT STUDIOS with JEFF COOK on vocals, ALLEN TOUSSAINT on piano, Reggie Toussaint on percussion, AMADEE CASTENELL on tenor, STEVE GOUDEAU on guitar, TINSLEY ELLIS on guitar, DAVID BERARD on bass, NICHOLAS PEYTON on trumpet, HERMANN LE BEAU JR on drums and a host of other CRESENT CITY notables.

The cd features songs by ALLEN TOUSSAINT, ROSCO GORDON, MOSE ALLISON and others.

http://www.amazon.com/Groove-Approved-R ... 799&sr=8-1