Here's another, from today's NOW Magazine (a free Toronto weekly: I pasted their Sexsmith review last week):
ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT The River In Reverse (Verve Forecast) Rating: NNNN
The original concept was for retro-soul producer Joe Henry to record a style album with New Orleans songwriter/producer/ pianist Allen Toussaint to update his stellar back catalogue for those who might not be familiar with his impressive body of work. But then Katrina hit town, followed by Elvis Costello, and somehow Toussaint wound up becoming a bit player in his own show. But a powerful musical force like Toussaint isn't easily swept aside, so even though Costello takes top billing and the lead vocals on this collaborative session, it's Toussaint's soulful songs and naturally funky grooves that make this unlikely pairing work almost in spite of Costello's overbearing presence. I'd much rather hear Toussaint singing these songs himself.
Tim Perlich
NOW | JUNE 1 - 7, 2006 | VOL. 25 NO. 40
River in Reverse discussion
Only two stars from Eye Weekly, though it seems like this reviewer hasn't been a fan of Elvis' records over the past two decades to begin with:
ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT **
The River in Reverse Verve/Universal
Mr. Smartypants and his band meet Mr. New Orleans and his horn section, produced by today's finest architect of vintage R&B, Joe Henry. Yet like so much of Costello's discography of the last 20 years, this sounds better on paper, another in a series of recent genre exercises that seem to be more about Costello proving something to himself. Despite Henry's sympathetic production and Toussaint's ace instrumentation, much of this plods along while Costello's vocals reach for soul salvation but get bogged down in the gravitas of it all. Four songs that conclude the first half of the album -- one by Costello, two by Toussaint, one a collaboration -- boast a rollicking southern swagger and bluesy backbone, especially when Toussaint takes his sole vocal turn on "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" Yet one great EP sequenced in the middle of an album doesn't make Costello's 25th studio release much reason to celebrate. MICHAEL BARCLAY
ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT **
The River in Reverse Verve/Universal
Mr. Smartypants and his band meet Mr. New Orleans and his horn section, produced by today's finest architect of vintage R&B, Joe Henry. Yet like so much of Costello's discography of the last 20 years, this sounds better on paper, another in a series of recent genre exercises that seem to be more about Costello proving something to himself. Despite Henry's sympathetic production and Toussaint's ace instrumentation, much of this plods along while Costello's vocals reach for soul salvation but get bogged down in the gravitas of it all. Four songs that conclude the first half of the album -- one by Costello, two by Toussaint, one a collaboration -- boast a rollicking southern swagger and bluesy backbone, especially when Toussaint takes his sole vocal turn on "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" Yet one great EP sequenced in the middle of an album doesn't make Costello's 25th studio release much reason to celebrate. MICHAEL BARCLAY
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
Uncut , July '06
ELVIS COSTELLO AND ALLEN TOUSSAINT
The River In Reverse
VERVE FORECAST
4 Stars
AFTER HIS BALLET AND BIG-BAND PROJECTS, THE IMPOSTER TURNS TO N’AWLINZ R&B, WITH MUCH BETTER RESULTS
By far the most appealing of Elvis Costello’s recent batch of spin-off projects, The River In Reverse came about as a result of his and Allen Toussaint’s involvement in Hurricane Katrina benefit concerts in New York.
Understandably, the disaster underpins some of the songs here, most notably the title track and “Broken Promise Landâ€
ELVIS COSTELLO AND ALLEN TOUSSAINT
The River In Reverse
VERVE FORECAST
4 Stars
AFTER HIS BALLET AND BIG-BAND PROJECTS, THE IMPOSTER TURNS TO N’AWLINZ R&B, WITH MUCH BETTER RESULTS
By far the most appealing of Elvis Costello’s recent batch of spin-off projects, The River In Reverse came about as a result of his and Allen Toussaint’s involvement in Hurricane Katrina benefit concerts in New York.
Understandably, the disaster underpins some of the songs here, most notably the title track and “Broken Promise Landâ€
Last edited by johnfoyle on Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Otis Westinghouse
- Posts: 8856
- Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:32 pm
- Location: The theatre of dreams
I would have enjoyed a bit more of Toussaint's lovely voice on it, but apart from that, I'm really enjoying it. It grows, doesn't it? Lovely mix of songs, nicely sequenced. There's a warm glow about it all, Elvis playing for the love of it, doesn't come across to me in the least like a genre exercise where he's trying to prove something.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
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charliestumpy
- Posts: 710
- Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2005 7:33 am
TRIR
Oddly enough, my wife likes TRIR, and she hasn't expressed like for any of Mr Costello's albums since 'Almost Blue'!
Before I commit myself to about $40+ on amazon.com or ebay.com for Japanese-only release with extra track 14 'The greatest love', is there anyone please who might post e.g. to Yousendit not high quality .mp3 etc of the Japanese-only track? Thanks.
Before I commit myself to about $40+ on amazon.com or ebay.com for Japanese-only release with extra track 14 'The greatest love', is there anyone please who might post e.g. to Yousendit not high quality .mp3 etc of the Japanese-only track? Thanks.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic ... 71,00.html
Mat Snow
Friday June 2, 2006
The Guardian
Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, The River in Reverse
Though New Orleans R&B traditionally has a wiggle in its walk, here its good humour is tempered by a smouldering sense of grievance, for obvious reasons. But first, a technical note: this album is best heard through audio equipment tweaked to suppress the excesses of Elvis Costello's strained bleat. Can't he hear that his singing is not what it was? Unadjusted, it's the elephant in the room of a very fine album, in which the genre-hopper teams up with veteran New Orleans songsmith, producer and pianist extraordinaire Allen Toussaint. Together they perform songs Toussaint penned for Lee Dorsey, Art Neville and Betty Harris, five new co-written numbers and one Costello original, The River in Reverse, which indicts the human disaster behind Hurricane Katrina's natural disaster with characteristically bitter wordplay. It's angry yet affectionate, insinuatingly melodic and solidly in that horn-marinated Big Easy groove. If only the Costello of 1980 was still around to sing it.
http://www.dailynews.com/entertainment/ci_3889031
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT: "The River In Reverse"
By Fred Shuster, Music Writer
U-Entertainment
(Verve Forecast)
Falling in love with each Costello album of the last few years is exhausting. But like his last two — "My Flame Burns Blue" and "The Delivery Man" — this one's no weekend fling. In stirring collaboration with New Orleans' r&b singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist and producer Toussaint, Costello is at full strength in this bountiful, well-crafted set of syncopated soul with dark undercurrents.
Along with well-chosen Toussaint gems — "On Your Way Down" (memorably covered in elegant funk-gospel fashion by Little Feat in the early 70s), the gorgeous "Freedom for the Stallion" and an uplifting "Tears, Tears and More Tears" — the album illustrates the fruits of a songwriting partnership made in r&b heaven and recorded in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.
Among the best of it is Toussaint's beautiful minor key variation of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina," titled "Ascension Day," with touching lyrics by Costello. Another collaborative piece bearing repeated listenings is the lacerating "The Sharpest Thorn," which brings to mind a "This Year's Model"-era Elvis.
Toussaint's signature horn arrangements — think of the Band's "Life Is a Carnival" — add distinctive punch, while a crack studio band clearly favoring feel over frozen perfection reaches near-telepathic levels. In stores Tuesday.
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/musi ... 623329.ece
Album: Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint fourstar
The River in Reverse, UNIVERSAL
By Andy Gill ( so good he reviews it twice ; see Uncut review by same writer - J.F.)
Published: 02 June 2006
If there's any silver lining to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, it has at least turned the spotlight back on New Orleans' unrivalled musical heritage, with benefit albums and new releases from Dr John and Irma Thomas joined by this collaboration between the city's top composer/ producer/pianist Allen Toussaint and his avid fan Elvis Costello. Whether remaking old Toussaint gems such as "On the Way Down" and "Freedom for the Stallion", or premiering sharp new songs such as the damning "Broken Promise Land" and "River in Reverse" ("I don't see how it can get much worse/ What can we do to send the river in reverse?"), both parties attack the material with gusto and aptitude, while producer Joe Henry effects a cleverly updated version of the classic Toussaint arrangement style, with infectious rhythms and fruity horns adding their own piquant commentary to the narratives. Most impressive is the exultant "International Echo", a celebration of how the togetherness inculcated by youthful exposure to rock'n'roll bridges continents and cultures.
Mat Snow
Friday June 2, 2006
The Guardian
Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, The River in Reverse
Though New Orleans R&B traditionally has a wiggle in its walk, here its good humour is tempered by a smouldering sense of grievance, for obvious reasons. But first, a technical note: this album is best heard through audio equipment tweaked to suppress the excesses of Elvis Costello's strained bleat. Can't he hear that his singing is not what it was? Unadjusted, it's the elephant in the room of a very fine album, in which the genre-hopper teams up with veteran New Orleans songsmith, producer and pianist extraordinaire Allen Toussaint. Together they perform songs Toussaint penned for Lee Dorsey, Art Neville and Betty Harris, five new co-written numbers and one Costello original, The River in Reverse, which indicts the human disaster behind Hurricane Katrina's natural disaster with characteristically bitter wordplay. It's angry yet affectionate, insinuatingly melodic and solidly in that horn-marinated Big Easy groove. If only the Costello of 1980 was still around to sing it.
http://www.dailynews.com/entertainment/ci_3889031
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT: "The River In Reverse"
By Fred Shuster, Music Writer
U-Entertainment
(Verve Forecast)
Falling in love with each Costello album of the last few years is exhausting. But like his last two — "My Flame Burns Blue" and "The Delivery Man" — this one's no weekend fling. In stirring collaboration with New Orleans' r&b singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist and producer Toussaint, Costello is at full strength in this bountiful, well-crafted set of syncopated soul with dark undercurrents.
Along with well-chosen Toussaint gems — "On Your Way Down" (memorably covered in elegant funk-gospel fashion by Little Feat in the early 70s), the gorgeous "Freedom for the Stallion" and an uplifting "Tears, Tears and More Tears" — the album illustrates the fruits of a songwriting partnership made in r&b heaven and recorded in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.
Among the best of it is Toussaint's beautiful minor key variation of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina," titled "Ascension Day," with touching lyrics by Costello. Another collaborative piece bearing repeated listenings is the lacerating "The Sharpest Thorn," which brings to mind a "This Year's Model"-era Elvis.
Toussaint's signature horn arrangements — think of the Band's "Life Is a Carnival" — add distinctive punch, while a crack studio band clearly favoring feel over frozen perfection reaches near-telepathic levels. In stores Tuesday.
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/musi ... 623329.ece
Album: Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint fourstar
The River in Reverse, UNIVERSAL
By Andy Gill ( so good he reviews it twice ; see Uncut review by same writer - J.F.)
Published: 02 June 2006
If there's any silver lining to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, it has at least turned the spotlight back on New Orleans' unrivalled musical heritage, with benefit albums and new releases from Dr John and Irma Thomas joined by this collaboration between the city's top composer/ producer/pianist Allen Toussaint and his avid fan Elvis Costello. Whether remaking old Toussaint gems such as "On the Way Down" and "Freedom for the Stallion", or premiering sharp new songs such as the damning "Broken Promise Land" and "River in Reverse" ("I don't see how it can get much worse/ What can we do to send the river in reverse?"), both parties attack the material with gusto and aptitude, while producer Joe Henry effects a cleverly updated version of the classic Toussaint arrangement style, with infectious rhythms and fruity horns adding their own piquant commentary to the narratives. Most impressive is the exultant "International Echo", a celebration of how the togetherness inculcated by youthful exposure to rock'n'roll bridges continents and cultures.
"Can't he see his voice isn't what it once was?" WHAT???? Is that bloke trying to say that he prefers this singing to that on MAIT or TYM? I've just got the record, and Costello's singing is AMAZING! I'm only on The Sharpest Thorn, but at the mo this is an amazing record, with absolutely no singing whatsoever.
Just thinking about those pillocks slagging off his voice is making me angry. I'll sign off there before I explode!
Just thinking about those pillocks slagging off his voice is making me angry. I'll sign off there before I explode!
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.
Its also "amusing" to read criticisms of EC's "vocal range". I dont think Ive ever read a rock n roll review that critiques the vocal range of Mick Jagger, Macca, Joe Strummer, or God forbid Pete Doherty and the like. Its fuckin rock n roll not opera and EC has a stronger and wider range than most. Its as if one critic is searching for something to criticise so goes for umm "vocal range" and every other hack just repeats it till it becomes conventional wisdom, when it is in fact bullshit of the highest order.
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
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King Hoarse
- Posts: 1450
- Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:32 pm
- Location: Malmö, Sweden
Jagger never lets Keith go ahead with a riff outside his range though.
There's a lot of EC songs through the years that I would have preferred in a lower register, because it IS straining sometimes. Little Palaces is a really good song, for instance, but I hate Elvis's whine on most of it. Sometimes the straining takes the song to new levels, sometimes not, but not playing it safe is a good thing.
I would prefer Nearer To You with a warmer voice, but I can't imagine someone improving on this Freedom For The Stallion.
If I could switch tracks 2 & 3 it would be the perfect track sequence! (This is the first Costello record where the two openers and the two closers could be the four weakest tracks though. Imo.)
There's a lot of EC songs through the years that I would have preferred in a lower register, because it IS straining sometimes. Little Palaces is a really good song, for instance, but I hate Elvis's whine on most of it. Sometimes the straining takes the song to new levels, sometimes not, but not playing it safe is a good thing.
I would prefer Nearer To You with a warmer voice, but I can't imagine someone improving on this Freedom For The Stallion.
If I could switch tracks 2 & 3 it would be the perfect track sequence! (This is the first Costello record where the two openers and the two closers could be the four weakest tracks though. Imo.)
What this world needs is more silly men.
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Turquoise Pajamas Pt Deux
- Posts: 189
- Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:32 pm
Oh no! Go listen to "Six Fingered Man" a few times. It's funky, dirty and groovy baby!King Hoarse wrote:Jagger never lets Keith go ahead with a riff outside his range though.
There's a lot of EC songs through the years that I would have preferred in a lower register, because it IS straining sometimes. Little Palaces is a really good song, for instance, but I hate Elvis's whine on most of it. Sometimes the straining takes the song to new levels, sometimes not, but not playing it safe is a good thing.
I would prefer Nearer To You with a warmer voice, but I can't imagine someone improving on this Freedom For The Stallion.
If I could switch tracks 2 & 3 it would be the perfect track sequence! (This is the first Costello record where the two openers and the two closers could be the four weakest tracks though. Imo.)
The lyrics to the songs on RIR are here -
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
- click on song title.
http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
- click on song title.
KH
Well, it shows what a personal preference thing vocals are - I think the vocal on Little Palaces is fantastic and one of his best ever. I prefer to hear a bit of rasp and a bit of strain in vocals - Id rather hear Rod Stewart or EC or John Martyn or Dylan over a million "technically" good singers any day. I think the vocals in rock n roll demand that sort of strain, it lends a tension and emotion to proceedings - listen to "Twist and Shout" where Lennons vocals are completely shredded or McCartney on "Im Down" - critics can take their "vocal range" and shove it up their arse as far as Im concerned.
Well, it shows what a personal preference thing vocals are - I think the vocal on Little Palaces is fantastic and one of his best ever. I prefer to hear a bit of rasp and a bit of strain in vocals - Id rather hear Rod Stewart or EC or John Martyn or Dylan over a million "technically" good singers any day. I think the vocals in rock n roll demand that sort of strain, it lends a tension and emotion to proceedings - listen to "Twist and Shout" where Lennons vocals are completely shredded or McCartney on "Im Down" - critics can take their "vocal range" and shove it up their arse as far as Im concerned.
echos myron like a siren
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
with endurance like the liberty bell
and he tells you of the dreamers
but he's cracked up like the road
and he'd like to lift us up, but we're a very heavy load
-
King Hoarse
- Posts: 1450
- Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:32 pm
- Location: Malmö, Sweden
I agree about all of the above except Little Palaces on KoA. I'm sure it would sound great live in the same key, I just don't like the tone of his voice on the high notes on the LP version. I like personal voices too, I'm just saying that Costello has a voice that will annoy plenty folk, that he's not trying to please them by playing it safe and that his vocal adventures work for me in almost every case.
And to explain my comment above about the first and last songs not being up to par: First off, I'm not trying to be objective. Also, it's a fine record where I like the 'weaker' tracks too, and I do think they will grow on me a lot. That said, On The Way Down is perfect for Elvis' voice, but the arrangement is a a bit too slow to find its groove, especially for an opener. If only it built a little, or had a cool instrumental coda...Then, Nearer To You doesn't pick up the pace and though it is a really nice song, like I wrote above, Costello's delivery isn't perfect for it, IMHO. I feel his pain but I would like to feel his love too. (More Blue Chair & less I Want You would have been nice, if you see what I mean.) Don't care for the tune of Wonder Woman. Reminds me of other EC melodies I'm not wild about, like Sour Milk Cow Blues, Playboy To A Man, and Beaten To The Punch, that all have that distinct 7th chord feel. I have no beef with the arrangement of Six-Fingered Man really, except the similar vocal 'blue note slides' of six-fingered maaAAaan etc. I guess I don't think our El is the greatest blues singer. The same vocal tic pops up in the International Echo line 'give me seven inches give me tweeEEelve' and almost ruins that otherwise great song for me too. I understand if others like it, I don't.
And to explain my comment above about the first and last songs not being up to par: First off, I'm not trying to be objective. Also, it's a fine record where I like the 'weaker' tracks too, and I do think they will grow on me a lot. That said, On The Way Down is perfect for Elvis' voice, but the arrangement is a a bit too slow to find its groove, especially for an opener. If only it built a little, or had a cool instrumental coda...Then, Nearer To You doesn't pick up the pace and though it is a really nice song, like I wrote above, Costello's delivery isn't perfect for it, IMHO. I feel his pain but I would like to feel his love too. (More Blue Chair & less I Want You would have been nice, if you see what I mean.) Don't care for the tune of Wonder Woman. Reminds me of other EC melodies I'm not wild about, like Sour Milk Cow Blues, Playboy To A Man, and Beaten To The Punch, that all have that distinct 7th chord feel. I have no beef with the arrangement of Six-Fingered Man really, except the similar vocal 'blue note slides' of six-fingered maaAAaan etc. I guess I don't think our El is the greatest blues singer. The same vocal tic pops up in the International Echo line 'give me seven inches give me tweeEEelve' and almost ruins that otherwise great song for me too. I understand if others like it, I don't.
What this world needs is more silly men.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jh ... tleft.html
The Daily Telegraph , June 3 '06
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
The River In Reverse
Verve Forecast, £12.99
In another story of the musical aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 68-year-old New Orleans songwriting legend Allen Toussaint washed up in New York, where he fell in with the comparatively sprightly 51-year-old Elvis Costello.
The two performed at some benefit concerts, whereupon the irrepressibly enthusiastic and possibly workaholic Costello (this is his second album this year) thought it was about time someone recorded a Toussaint songbook, and it might as well be him. Backed by a classy band (Costello's Imposters, supplemented by a horn section under Toussaint's direction), they have created a rich, warm, live-sounding concoction that is more than mere tribute. If these are hardly the definitive versions - Costello's sometimes rough, overwrought vocals sitting uneasily with Toussaint's light, funky touch - the album takes flight on a clutch of soulful originals, on which two great songwriters tackle the aftermath of disaster, coming on like punk soul brothers.
Anger and disgust are among Costello's strongest emotional suits, and threatening horns drive him along as he sneers at political betrayal on Broken Promise Land, while Toussaint's delicate piano underpins the hopeless bafflement of Ascension Day.
Neil McCormick
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/revie ... bumreviews
Los Angeles Times , June 3 '06
RECORD RACK
Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
"The River in Reverse"
(Verve)
June 4, 2006
This transatlantic reunion of the British rocker-cum-man of all musical milieus with Toussaint, one of the deans of New Orleans pop and R&B, has a remarkably timely — and relevant — feel considering several of the tunes are 10 to 20 years old or older.
Costello and songwriter-pianist-arranger Toussaint met when the former recorded parts of his 1989 album "Spike" with Crescent City musicians. Their new collaboration came together in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastating ride through Louisiana, and not surprisingly, the album hits hardest in those numbers that take on the broad sweep of a cry for social and political justice.
The opening cut, "On Your Way Down," is anchored in the golden rule as it applies to interpersonal relationships, yet also targets the subject of life's haves versus its have-nots: "You think the sun rises and sets for you / But the same sun rises, sets and shines on the poor folks too."
Toussaint's gently funky "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" similarly decries the imbalanced scales of society, while Costello takes his best shot at the powers on high in the title tune. His signature acidic touch emerges in this tale of looming danger: "Count your blessings when they ask permission / To govern with money and superstition."
The undercurrent of anger is balanced in several gospel-tinged numbers, notably "Nearer to You," a waltzing declaration of romantic connection that becomes a fervent spiritual plea in this pair's passionate hands.
Joe Henry's production work is stoutly muscular, full of beefy New Orleans horn backing and Toussaint's deliciously fluid piano work and, on occasion, his honey-soaked singing. It's all draped in a muted sonic cloth that manifests the pervading idea of darkness descending on the land.
In the album's central conundrum, Costello sings, "What do we have to do to send the river in reverse?" This time, there's no answer conveniently blowing in the wind. Costello and Toussaint play the Playboy Jazz Festival on June 18 at the Hollywood Bowl.
-- Randy Lewis
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/reviews/ ... 1002612473
Billboard , June 3 '06
The River in Reverse
ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Release Date: June 06, 2006
Producer(s): Joe Henry
Genre: POP
Label: Verve Forecast
Though Costello's band the Imposters are the entirely capable rhythm section (and Steve Nieve the standout second keyboardist), the dominant sound on "The River in Reverse" is the familiar sophisticated strut of Toussaint's elegant piano fillips and filigrees. There are five new Costello/Toussaint compositions here, seven wonderful, mostly obscure Toussaint tunes and Costello's artful, aching title song. Toussaint, who was unfamiliar with Costello before their meeting, may have arched an eyebrow at cleverly enigmatic lyrics like those to "Six-Fingered Man" ("playing a seven-string guitar"). Among the co-writes, "Ascension Day" is a smart minor key update of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina," while "International Echo" is a jazzy variation on the classic "Sea Cruise" bounce. Costello's vocal range is challenged like never before, but his phrasing is always on the money, and Joe Henry's production makes it all sound so natural. —Wayne Robins
The Daily Telegraph , June 3 '06
Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
The River In Reverse
Verve Forecast, £12.99
In another story of the musical aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 68-year-old New Orleans songwriting legend Allen Toussaint washed up in New York, where he fell in with the comparatively sprightly 51-year-old Elvis Costello.
The two performed at some benefit concerts, whereupon the irrepressibly enthusiastic and possibly workaholic Costello (this is his second album this year) thought it was about time someone recorded a Toussaint songbook, and it might as well be him. Backed by a classy band (Costello's Imposters, supplemented by a horn section under Toussaint's direction), they have created a rich, warm, live-sounding concoction that is more than mere tribute. If these are hardly the definitive versions - Costello's sometimes rough, overwrought vocals sitting uneasily with Toussaint's light, funky touch - the album takes flight on a clutch of soulful originals, on which two great songwriters tackle the aftermath of disaster, coming on like punk soul brothers.
Anger and disgust are among Costello's strongest emotional suits, and threatening horns drive him along as he sneers at political betrayal on Broken Promise Land, while Toussaint's delicate piano underpins the hopeless bafflement of Ascension Day.
Neil McCormick
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/revie ... bumreviews
Los Angeles Times , June 3 '06
RECORD RACK
Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint
"The River in Reverse"
(Verve)
June 4, 2006
This transatlantic reunion of the British rocker-cum-man of all musical milieus with Toussaint, one of the deans of New Orleans pop and R&B, has a remarkably timely — and relevant — feel considering several of the tunes are 10 to 20 years old or older.
Costello and songwriter-pianist-arranger Toussaint met when the former recorded parts of his 1989 album "Spike" with Crescent City musicians. Their new collaboration came together in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastating ride through Louisiana, and not surprisingly, the album hits hardest in those numbers that take on the broad sweep of a cry for social and political justice.
The opening cut, "On Your Way Down," is anchored in the golden rule as it applies to interpersonal relationships, yet also targets the subject of life's haves versus its have-nots: "You think the sun rises and sets for you / But the same sun rises, sets and shines on the poor folks too."
Toussaint's gently funky "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" similarly decries the imbalanced scales of society, while Costello takes his best shot at the powers on high in the title tune. His signature acidic touch emerges in this tale of looming danger: "Count your blessings when they ask permission / To govern with money and superstition."
The undercurrent of anger is balanced in several gospel-tinged numbers, notably "Nearer to You," a waltzing declaration of romantic connection that becomes a fervent spiritual plea in this pair's passionate hands.
Joe Henry's production work is stoutly muscular, full of beefy New Orleans horn backing and Toussaint's deliciously fluid piano work and, on occasion, his honey-soaked singing. It's all draped in a muted sonic cloth that manifests the pervading idea of darkness descending on the land.
In the album's central conundrum, Costello sings, "What do we have to do to send the river in reverse?" This time, there's no answer conveniently blowing in the wind. Costello and Toussaint play the Playboy Jazz Festival on June 18 at the Hollywood Bowl.
-- Randy Lewis
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/reviews/ ... 1002612473
Billboard , June 3 '06
The River in Reverse
ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT
Release Date: June 06, 2006
Producer(s): Joe Henry
Genre: POP
Label: Verve Forecast
Though Costello's band the Imposters are the entirely capable rhythm section (and Steve Nieve the standout second keyboardist), the dominant sound on "The River in Reverse" is the familiar sophisticated strut of Toussaint's elegant piano fillips and filigrees. There are five new Costello/Toussaint compositions here, seven wonderful, mostly obscure Toussaint tunes and Costello's artful, aching title song. Toussaint, who was unfamiliar with Costello before their meeting, may have arched an eyebrow at cleverly enigmatic lyrics like those to "Six-Fingered Man" ("playing a seven-string guitar"). Among the co-writes, "Ascension Day" is a smart minor key update of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina," while "International Echo" is a jazzy variation on the classic "Sea Cruise" bounce. Costello's vocal range is challenged like never before, but his phrasing is always on the money, and Joe Henry's production makes it all sound so natural. —Wayne Robins
-
Jackson Monk
- Posts: 1919
- Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2003 4:33 pm
- Location: At the other end of the telescope
-
And No Coffee Table
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Oddly enough, I think he may have done some research and based that comment on this bit in the "Downbeat" article:
Of course, he missed the rather significant point that Toussaint was talking about meeting Elvis 23 years ago.Toussaint didn't know much about Costello before they met. "I just knew there was an Elvis Costello," he says. "But I was stationary in New Orleans. New Orleans was cut off from the rest of the world in many ways. What was common knowledge to other folks, well, you'd have to leave New Orleans to check that out. I didn't know his music."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 04519.html
The Sunday Times June 04, 2006
Pop CD of the Week:
Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint: The River in Reverse
MARK EDWARDS
ELVIS COSTELLO/ALLEN TOUSSAINT
The River in Reverse
Verve 9856057
Anyone whose relationship with Elvis Costello stretches back to 1980’s Get Happy!! will realise that while many of the man’s collaborations stretch his talents, this one capitalises on them. His band mesh easily with Toussaint’s horn section (and you don’t have to be a muso to relish the thought of Toussaint on piano combining with Steve Nieve on Hammond organ), while Costello adds bite and bile that are entirely appropriate on an album recorded, in part, in New Orleans, just four months after Hurricane Katrina. The original idea — Costello singing the Toussaint songbook — quickly mutated, and what we have here is a mixture of back-catalogue gems with new co-written songs. New and old merge as readily as the two sets of musicians. The angry swell of the co-written Six-Fingered Man sits nicely next to the easy funk of Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further — originally written by Toussaint for Lee Dorsey. As with several others, it takes on a new relevance in a post-Katrina world. Four stars
The Sunday Times June 04, 2006
Pop CD of the Week:
Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint: The River in Reverse
MARK EDWARDS
ELVIS COSTELLO/ALLEN TOUSSAINT
The River in Reverse
Verve 9856057
Anyone whose relationship with Elvis Costello stretches back to 1980’s Get Happy!! will realise that while many of the man’s collaborations stretch his talents, this one capitalises on them. His band mesh easily with Toussaint’s horn section (and you don’t have to be a muso to relish the thought of Toussaint on piano combining with Steve Nieve on Hammond organ), while Costello adds bite and bile that are entirely appropriate on an album recorded, in part, in New Orleans, just four months after Hurricane Katrina. The original idea — Costello singing the Toussaint songbook — quickly mutated, and what we have here is a mixture of back-catalogue gems with new co-written songs. New and old merge as readily as the two sets of musicians. The angry swell of the co-written Six-Fingered Man sits nicely next to the easy funk of Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further — originally written by Toussaint for Lee Dorsey. As with several others, it takes on a new relevance in a post-Katrina world. Four stars
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/06/04/1613613.html
Costello, Toussaint bound by the river
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
Surviving the storm
At first glance, a British New Wave pioneer and a New Orleans R&B legend -- the latter 17 years older than the former -- might not appear to have much musically in common.
But Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, whose new inspired collaboration, The River In Reverse, hits stores Tuesday, had worked together twice during the '80s.
Last year's life-changing Hurricane Katrina led to the two musicians crossing paths again in New York City, where Toussaint had temporarily relocated and Costello spends half of his time with Canadian wife Diana Krall.
The occasion was a jazz gala-turned-Katrina benefit that Costello and Krall -- in B.C. when the storm actually struck -- had been asked to play by Wynton Marsalis.
"By this time I'd heard that Allen had made it to New York and I said, 'There wouldn't be any better thing than to ask Allen to play (Toussaint's) Freedom For The Stallion with me," said Costello, 51, seated beside the elegant 68-year-old Toussaint in a Yorkville restaurant recently.
"So that was the first time I heard Allen's voice since the previous summer when we'd been on the bill together at the (New Orleans) jazz fest. Allen's presence of mind and stoicism in the face of everything was remarkable. It was kind of humbling."
The first benefit led to a second, The Big Apple For The Big Easy, a big televised event from Madison Square Garden, which saw Toussaint's band back up several artists, including Costello.
"Definitely, at that point, I thought, there were some songs of Allen's that could be heard in this moment that had particular resonance for the circumstance," said Costello.
The River In Reverse eventually became seven Toussaint songs, five Toussaint-Costello collaborations and the title track written solely by Costello in a burst of 10 minutes.
The collaborators arrived in Toronto in early May, fresh off a performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. And it was clear that Toussaint, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who has arranged horns for The Band and Paul Simon, produced huge hits for Dr. John (I Was In The Right Place) and LaBelle (Lady Marmalade) and whose songs have been covered by Glen Campbell (Southern Nights), Boz Scaggs (What Do You Want The Girl To Do?) and Devo (Working In A Coal Mine), was buoyed by some return to normalcy in his beloved Big Easy.
"It was a wonderful spiritual feeling to see so many people saying 'yes.' Because if they're there, they said 'yes,' " he said with a smile. "And I mean on stage and in the audience as well, so it was quite rewarding and the people who put the Fest together, they were almost teary-eyed to see such a turnout."
Recording The River In Reverse also brought Toussaint and Costello, whose summer tour includes stops at Fallsview Casino Resort on July 7 and 8, back to the Crescent City about a month and a half after Katrina.
They'd initially began their work -- with Costello's Imposters bandmates Steve Nieve on B3 organ and drummer Pete Thomas and Toussaint's four-man horn section and guitarist Anthony Brown -- in Los Angeles.
But Costello felt the move was important to Toussaint even if the Englishman wasn't quite prepared for the scene that greeted him so soon after the storm.
"The signs of destruction were everywhere but specifically in the most badly affected areas, it's pretty devastating experience to see with your own eyes," said Costello. "A television picture won't prepare you for it, when you're actually at eye level with it, and see some personal belongings just hanging in a tree, and a car on top of a roof, and a refrigerator upside down. It was like a surrealistic scene."
Costello, Toussaint bound by the river
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun
Surviving the storm
At first glance, a British New Wave pioneer and a New Orleans R&B legend -- the latter 17 years older than the former -- might not appear to have much musically in common.
But Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint, whose new inspired collaboration, The River In Reverse, hits stores Tuesday, had worked together twice during the '80s.
Last year's life-changing Hurricane Katrina led to the two musicians crossing paths again in New York City, where Toussaint had temporarily relocated and Costello spends half of his time with Canadian wife Diana Krall.
The occasion was a jazz gala-turned-Katrina benefit that Costello and Krall -- in B.C. when the storm actually struck -- had been asked to play by Wynton Marsalis.
"By this time I'd heard that Allen had made it to New York and I said, 'There wouldn't be any better thing than to ask Allen to play (Toussaint's) Freedom For The Stallion with me," said Costello, 51, seated beside the elegant 68-year-old Toussaint in a Yorkville restaurant recently.
"So that was the first time I heard Allen's voice since the previous summer when we'd been on the bill together at the (New Orleans) jazz fest. Allen's presence of mind and stoicism in the face of everything was remarkable. It was kind of humbling."
The first benefit led to a second, The Big Apple For The Big Easy, a big televised event from Madison Square Garden, which saw Toussaint's band back up several artists, including Costello.
"Definitely, at that point, I thought, there were some songs of Allen's that could be heard in this moment that had particular resonance for the circumstance," said Costello.
The River In Reverse eventually became seven Toussaint songs, five Toussaint-Costello collaborations and the title track written solely by Costello in a burst of 10 minutes.
The collaborators arrived in Toronto in early May, fresh off a performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. And it was clear that Toussaint, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who has arranged horns for The Band and Paul Simon, produced huge hits for Dr. John (I Was In The Right Place) and LaBelle (Lady Marmalade) and whose songs have been covered by Glen Campbell (Southern Nights), Boz Scaggs (What Do You Want The Girl To Do?) and Devo (Working In A Coal Mine), was buoyed by some return to normalcy in his beloved Big Easy.
"It was a wonderful spiritual feeling to see so many people saying 'yes.' Because if they're there, they said 'yes,' " he said with a smile. "And I mean on stage and in the audience as well, so it was quite rewarding and the people who put the Fest together, they were almost teary-eyed to see such a turnout."
Recording The River In Reverse also brought Toussaint and Costello, whose summer tour includes stops at Fallsview Casino Resort on July 7 and 8, back to the Crescent City about a month and a half after Katrina.
They'd initially began their work -- with Costello's Imposters bandmates Steve Nieve on B3 organ and drummer Pete Thomas and Toussaint's four-man horn section and guitarist Anthony Brown -- in Los Angeles.
But Costello felt the move was important to Toussaint even if the Englishman wasn't quite prepared for the scene that greeted him so soon after the storm.
"The signs of destruction were everywhere but specifically in the most badly affected areas, it's pretty devastating experience to see with your own eyes," said Costello. "A television picture won't prepare you for it, when you're actually at eye level with it, and see some personal belongings just hanging in a tree, and a car on top of a roof, and a refrigerator upside down. It was like a surrealistic scene."
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... 7302c.html
'River's' healing waters
Toussaint and Costello craft
a cathartic response to Katrina
BY JIM FARBER
He may have lost his home, his possessions and 40 years of important music memorabilia. But you won't hear a peep of complaint out of New Orleans flood survivor Allen Toussaint.
"For me, it's just a joyous thing to be able to go back now and play in New Orleans," the musical legend says. "It's fitting to be there. My home is being rebuilt. And the city will be better."
Optimism of that order fires much of the music on a stunning new album matching the talents of Toussaint with those of someone who seems to have his fingers in every genre on earth: Elvis Costello. Titled "The River in Reverse," the disk filters expressions of anger and frustration over recent events in the city through a sieve of humor and joy.
"We didn't want to preach," Toussaint explains. "These are songs, not speeches." But they never would have been recorded were it not for the wreckage of Katrina and the many musical benefits that came in its wake.
In the weeks after the catastrophe last year, Costello and Toussaint kept finding themselves playing together at fund-raisers for the survivors. "Over a seven-day period we were seeing each other almost every day," Costello explains.
The two had worked together briefly in the past. Toussaint produced the song "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" on the Brit singer's 1989 CD, "Spike, the Beloved Entertainer." Costello had been attracted to Toussaint's style ever since he was young. As a producer, writer, arranger and sometime performer, the 68-year-old Toussaint has been a key figure in music for more than 40 years. He had a hand in shaping the music of everyone from local New Orleans legends like Irma Thomas, Dr. John and the Meters, to pop names like the Pointer Sisters and Patti LaBelle. It was Toussaint who arranged and produced LaBelle's peak album, "Nightbirds," in 1974, which included the original "Lady Marmalade." Over the years, his songs have been recorded by everyone from Bonnie Raitt ("What Do You Want the Boy to Do") to Glen Campbell ("Southern Nights").
But it was Toussaint's work on the Lee Dorsey hits of the '60s (like "Working in a Coal Mine") that first attracted Costello. "They were different from all the other songs that were called soul at the time," the singer explains. "They didn't sound like soul records from up north in Memphis, New York or Chicago. They had a different approach to rhythm. I'd always associated New Orleans with jazz. I didn't realize there were all these riches there."
In fact, Toussaint's compositions have always transcended the Big Easy's brew of soul, jazz and R&B. His melodies move with their own pop grace. Unsurprisingly, when Costello first thought about proposing the joint project to Toussaint, he considered making a songbook salute to the older star's catalogue. He suggested such an album to his A&R man, Joe McEwen, who, in turn, asked if they could flesh it out with new material. The ridiculously prolific Costello had one piece already: He'd written a song inspired by Katrina ("The River in Reverse") in a scant 10 minutes and debuted it at one of the New Orleans benefits. Costello thought if Toussaint arranged it, it could make a good jumping-off point for a real collaboration.
They first tested the waters together with a rewrite of the classic New Orleans tune "Tipitina." Costello added new lyrics, and together they turned that into the breathtaking new "Ascension Day."
"That broke things wide open," Costello says.
The duo wrote three more songs together in about 25 minutes. They had planned to record the result in New Orleans, but when they were to begin the album the city was still closed. So they opted to start in Hollywood.
Things were going so swimmingly, Costello and Toussaint were afraid they might finish before they ever got down to Louisiana. But, eventually, things found a slower rhythm, and the pair wound up cutting a significant portion of the music in the devastated town.
Once there, Costello wanted to see the worst of it for himself. "The studio was a five-minute drive from the Lower Ninth Ward," he explains. "I didn't feel it was a morbid thing to go. Each of us should see what was there with our own eyes."
Some of the frustration over what he saw shows in the music. "Broken Promise Land" refers to the government's poor response to the crisis. The watery title track seems to, as well, although Costello says he feels it transcends the event. "I'm talking about the general flow towards a world I don't want to live in — a world where we're not taking better care of each other," he explains.
Probably the strongest political statement on the album — Toussaint's "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" — is also the disk's most clever cut. As Toussaint sings: "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."
The wit of those lines underscores Toussaint's relentlessly upbeat attitude. To him, even the diaspora of New Orleans musicians created by the hurricane has a positive side. "These players have become our ambassadors," he explains. "Now they're bringing New Orleans to everyone."
Originally published on June 3, 2006
'River's' healing waters
Toussaint and Costello craft
a cathartic response to Katrina
BY JIM FARBER
He may have lost his home, his possessions and 40 years of important music memorabilia. But you won't hear a peep of complaint out of New Orleans flood survivor Allen Toussaint.
"For me, it's just a joyous thing to be able to go back now and play in New Orleans," the musical legend says. "It's fitting to be there. My home is being rebuilt. And the city will be better."
Optimism of that order fires much of the music on a stunning new album matching the talents of Toussaint with those of someone who seems to have his fingers in every genre on earth: Elvis Costello. Titled "The River in Reverse," the disk filters expressions of anger and frustration over recent events in the city through a sieve of humor and joy.
"We didn't want to preach," Toussaint explains. "These are songs, not speeches." But they never would have been recorded were it not for the wreckage of Katrina and the many musical benefits that came in its wake.
In the weeks after the catastrophe last year, Costello and Toussaint kept finding themselves playing together at fund-raisers for the survivors. "Over a seven-day period we were seeing each other almost every day," Costello explains.
The two had worked together briefly in the past. Toussaint produced the song "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" on the Brit singer's 1989 CD, "Spike, the Beloved Entertainer." Costello had been attracted to Toussaint's style ever since he was young. As a producer, writer, arranger and sometime performer, the 68-year-old Toussaint has been a key figure in music for more than 40 years. He had a hand in shaping the music of everyone from local New Orleans legends like Irma Thomas, Dr. John and the Meters, to pop names like the Pointer Sisters and Patti LaBelle. It was Toussaint who arranged and produced LaBelle's peak album, "Nightbirds," in 1974, which included the original "Lady Marmalade." Over the years, his songs have been recorded by everyone from Bonnie Raitt ("What Do You Want the Boy to Do") to Glen Campbell ("Southern Nights").
But it was Toussaint's work on the Lee Dorsey hits of the '60s (like "Working in a Coal Mine") that first attracted Costello. "They were different from all the other songs that were called soul at the time," the singer explains. "They didn't sound like soul records from up north in Memphis, New York or Chicago. They had a different approach to rhythm. I'd always associated New Orleans with jazz. I didn't realize there were all these riches there."
In fact, Toussaint's compositions have always transcended the Big Easy's brew of soul, jazz and R&B. His melodies move with their own pop grace. Unsurprisingly, when Costello first thought about proposing the joint project to Toussaint, he considered making a songbook salute to the older star's catalogue. He suggested such an album to his A&R man, Joe McEwen, who, in turn, asked if they could flesh it out with new material. The ridiculously prolific Costello had one piece already: He'd written a song inspired by Katrina ("The River in Reverse") in a scant 10 minutes and debuted it at one of the New Orleans benefits. Costello thought if Toussaint arranged it, it could make a good jumping-off point for a real collaboration.
They first tested the waters together with a rewrite of the classic New Orleans tune "Tipitina." Costello added new lyrics, and together they turned that into the breathtaking new "Ascension Day."
"That broke things wide open," Costello says.
The duo wrote three more songs together in about 25 minutes. They had planned to record the result in New Orleans, but when they were to begin the album the city was still closed. So they opted to start in Hollywood.
Things were going so swimmingly, Costello and Toussaint were afraid they might finish before they ever got down to Louisiana. But, eventually, things found a slower rhythm, and the pair wound up cutting a significant portion of the music in the devastated town.
Once there, Costello wanted to see the worst of it for himself. "The studio was a five-minute drive from the Lower Ninth Ward," he explains. "I didn't feel it was a morbid thing to go. Each of us should see what was there with our own eyes."
Some of the frustration over what he saw shows in the music. "Broken Promise Land" refers to the government's poor response to the crisis. The watery title track seems to, as well, although Costello says he feels it transcends the event. "I'm talking about the general flow towards a world I don't want to live in — a world where we're not taking better care of each other," he explains.
Probably the strongest political statement on the album — Toussaint's "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" — is also the disk's most clever cut. As Toussaint sings: "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."
The wit of those lines underscores Toussaint's relentlessly upbeat attitude. To him, even the diaspora of New Orleans musicians created by the hurricane has a positive side. "These players have become our ambassadors," he explains. "Now they're bringing New Orleans to everyone."
Originally published on June 3, 2006
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/06/04/1614231-cp.html
Costello teams up with Toussaint for new CD
By ANGELA PACIENZA
Costello, Toussaint bound by the river
Surviving the storm
Allen Toussaint, left, and Elvis Costello. (AP/Richard Drew)
TORONTO (CP) - Elvis Costello is releasing a duets album this week - albeit not the one everyone is clamouring for.
Out Tuesday, the River in Reverse is an artistic collaboration with New Orleans soul guru Allen Toussaint, although Costello hints that an album with wife Diana Krall is also in the works.
A love song to New Orleans, the R&B-tinged record is the latest of Costello's genre-hopping experiments and was inspired by the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina.
Watching the scene unfold from the safety of his home in Nanaimo, B.C., - where Costello says the news was "more level-headed" than the U.S. coverage - the singer began thinking about Toussaint's song Freedom for the Stallion, a call for peace that's been covered by Bob Dylan and Three Dog Night.
A week later, he performed the song at a concert and began thinking he'd like to pay tribute to the oft-overlooked talent with a songbook or similar project.
Toussaint has primarily worked behind the scenes as a producer and songwriter, lending his talents to seminal albums such as Dr. John's Right Place, Wrong Time and Patti LaBelle's Lady Marmalade.
He also played keyboards in the 1980s on Costello's Deep, Dark Truthful Mirror from the Spike album.
Shortly after coming up with idea to collaborate with Toussaint, Costello and the 68-year-old musician reunited at a benefit concert.
"Katrina was sort of like a booking agent in this case," Toussaint, who's been living in New York City since being displaced by the hurricane, joked during a recent interview.
The 13-song album features covers from Toussaint's 50-year-plus career, including Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?, as well as new compositions by Toussaint and Costello. The pair are joined by Costello's band The Imposters and Toussaint's Crescent City Horns.
"I can't really curse Katrina as much as I would if it weren't for wonderful things like this coming out of it," said Toussaint.
Added Costello: "We've never had a better time making a record. It seems odd to say that when some of the songs certainly have a sorrowful and grave subject matter."
The album marks yet another turn for the eclectic Costello, who's been dabbling in a variety of musical genres the past few years, moving from rock to classical to R&B with ease.
His last release was the orchestral-concert album My Flame Burns Blue.
"You use different techniques . . . but to me it's all just music," he said nonchalantly, shrugging his broad shoulders.
The London-born singer says it was important for him to pay tribute to classic R&B, a genre that inspired him as a teen.
"Soul music, people used to call it," said Costello, his mind wandering. "You don't hear that phrase often nowadays."
"When I was growing up in England, a lot of music we heard was R&B. It definitely had soul. It definitely was more than just trivial lyrics. There was something important to the singer even if it was just a simple idea."
It's not the first time a tragic event has pushed Costello to collaborate on an album.
The death of Krall's mother a few years ago prompted the release 2004's The Girl In the Other Room, an album with a handful of co-written songs on it.
Costello says the pair, who divide their time between New York and Nanaimo, have since penned more songs together but aren't quite ready to release them to the public.
"People ask us all the time 'Are we ever going to make a record together or tour together?' " said Costello. "There are different occasions for writing songs."
So when can music fans expect an album from the couple?
"Maybe in a few years time."
Costello teams up with Toussaint for new CD
By ANGELA PACIENZA
Costello, Toussaint bound by the river
Surviving the storm
Allen Toussaint, left, and Elvis Costello. (AP/Richard Drew)
TORONTO (CP) - Elvis Costello is releasing a duets album this week - albeit not the one everyone is clamouring for.
Out Tuesday, the River in Reverse is an artistic collaboration with New Orleans soul guru Allen Toussaint, although Costello hints that an album with wife Diana Krall is also in the works.
A love song to New Orleans, the R&B-tinged record is the latest of Costello's genre-hopping experiments and was inspired by the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina.
Watching the scene unfold from the safety of his home in Nanaimo, B.C., - where Costello says the news was "more level-headed" than the U.S. coverage - the singer began thinking about Toussaint's song Freedom for the Stallion, a call for peace that's been covered by Bob Dylan and Three Dog Night.
A week later, he performed the song at a concert and began thinking he'd like to pay tribute to the oft-overlooked talent with a songbook or similar project.
Toussaint has primarily worked behind the scenes as a producer and songwriter, lending his talents to seminal albums such as Dr. John's Right Place, Wrong Time and Patti LaBelle's Lady Marmalade.
He also played keyboards in the 1980s on Costello's Deep, Dark Truthful Mirror from the Spike album.
Shortly after coming up with idea to collaborate with Toussaint, Costello and the 68-year-old musician reunited at a benefit concert.
"Katrina was sort of like a booking agent in this case," Toussaint, who's been living in New York City since being displaced by the hurricane, joked during a recent interview.
The 13-song album features covers from Toussaint's 50-year-plus career, including Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?, as well as new compositions by Toussaint and Costello. The pair are joined by Costello's band The Imposters and Toussaint's Crescent City Horns.
"I can't really curse Katrina as much as I would if it weren't for wonderful things like this coming out of it," said Toussaint.
Added Costello: "We've never had a better time making a record. It seems odd to say that when some of the songs certainly have a sorrowful and grave subject matter."
The album marks yet another turn for the eclectic Costello, who's been dabbling in a variety of musical genres the past few years, moving from rock to classical to R&B with ease.
His last release was the orchestral-concert album My Flame Burns Blue.
"You use different techniques . . . but to me it's all just music," he said nonchalantly, shrugging his broad shoulders.
The London-born singer says it was important for him to pay tribute to classic R&B, a genre that inspired him as a teen.
"Soul music, people used to call it," said Costello, his mind wandering. "You don't hear that phrase often nowadays."
"When I was growing up in England, a lot of music we heard was R&B. It definitely had soul. It definitely was more than just trivial lyrics. There was something important to the singer even if it was just a simple idea."
It's not the first time a tragic event has pushed Costello to collaborate on an album.
The death of Krall's mother a few years ago prompted the release 2004's The Girl In the Other Room, an album with a handful of co-written songs on it.
Costello says the pair, who divide their time between New York and Nanaimo, have since penned more songs together but aren't quite ready to release them to the public.
"People ask us all the time 'Are we ever going to make a record together or tour together?' " said Costello. "There are different occasions for writing songs."
So when can music fans expect an album from the couple?
"Maybe in a few years time."
RIR has become Elvis' third consecutive album to fail to chart (top 75) in the UK. He is virtually invisible over here. Will North be has last album to chart? As with TDM and North the only time you hear him on the radio is when he turns up in the studio. It would be interesting to know how many radio plays any track fom RIR has received here on any station. I suspect very few.
I'm going to make a prediction here: in the US, this album has Grammy winner written all over it. I cite the following reasons:
1) Popular cause- Katrina, New Orleans, Allen Toussaint, respect for EC, etc.
2) This is the type of album that Grammy voters love to shower with accolades- like Time Out of Mind and Two Against Nature, albums that don't necessarily sell well but are critical darlings.
3) The generally overwhelming popular approval of the album.
I don't know when the Grammys are, or that they even matter, but I think this album (and Springsteen's) will be favorites when the time comes.
1) Popular cause- Katrina, New Orleans, Allen Toussaint, respect for EC, etc.
2) This is the type of album that Grammy voters love to shower with accolades- like Time Out of Mind and Two Against Nature, albums that don't necessarily sell well but are critical darlings.
3) The generally overwhelming popular approval of the album.
I don't know when the Grammys are, or that they even matter, but I think this album (and Springsteen's) will be favorites when the time comes.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... b8b5c4csqe
Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint
Rating
4.5 Stars
River in Reverse
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
It's impossible to consider The River in Reverse without taking the devastation Hurricane Katrina wreaked upon New Orleans into account. Indeed, it's quite likely that this collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint would not even have occurred if it weren't for that cataclysmic event. They've collaborated before -- Toussaint wrote horn charts for Costello's 1989 album Spike -- but neither had plans to work together until they appeared together at a September 2005 Madison Square Garden benefit concert for the victims of Katrina. That kick-started the album that became The River in Reverse. Initially, the plan was for the collaboration to be a songbook album, with Costello and Toussaint performing some highlights from Allen's rich songbook, and while the record bears some remnants of that blueprint -- seven of its 13 songs were written by Toussaint in the '60s and '70s -- the finished work evolved into an elegant, eloquent protest album crafted out of old songs and new. Costello alone wrote the title track, premiering at that benefit concert, and its angry account of the flood that wrecked New Orleans provides a touchstone for the other five new songs here, all co-written with Toussaint. "Broken Promise Land," "Ascension Day," and "International Echo" explore the aftermath of Katrina, while "Six-Fingered Man" is a funny acerbic take on a sinful sloth who is "always the first to blow his horn/His achievements multiply/Pity half of them seem to be lies." Toussaint's presence on these five songs tempers but doesn't dilute the churning anger that roils underneath The River in Reverse: "Broken Promise Land" drives along on a swampy funk rhythm, the spare and laid-back "Ascension Day" is a showcase for Allen's piano, "International Echo" revives the rolling spirit of classic New Orleans R&B, while "Six Finger Man" has a grinding, gritty blues backbeat. All five of these new songs are genuine collaborations, bearing the unmistakable stamp of both highly distinctive musicians, but the best compliment that can be paid to them is that they blend seamlessly with the classic Toussaint songs that comprise the rest of the record. When placed next to explicit songs of protest like "Broken Promise Land," such New Orleans R&B and soul staples as "On Your Way Down," "Tears, Tears and More Tears," "Freedom for the Stallion," and especially "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" with its chorus of "What happen to the Liberty Bell I heard so much about?/Did it really ding-dong?/It must have dinged wrong/It didn't ding wrong" take on an entirely different, politically charged meaning.
This undercurrent of protest gives The River in Reverse thematic cohesion -- and 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 -- but what makes the album rather extraordinary is that it's as much celebration as it is protest. There is joy and tenderness within the performances of Toussaint, Costello, his backing band the Imposters, and Toussaint mainstays the Crescent City Horns, all captured by Joe Henry's clean yet warm production. If Costello pushes his phrasing a little harder than most interpreters of Toussaint -- not only does Allen himself have an easy, casual delivery, but so did such singers as Lee Dorsey, Aaron Neville, Ernie K-Doe, and Lowell George -- it suits the spirit of when the album was recorded, and Elvis is balanced about by the earthy, natural sound of the band, and Allen's graceful harmonies. As pure music, this is impossible not to enjoy, and this rich blend of R&B, blues, soul, and funk illustrates exactly how important New Orleans is to America's culture, and that it needs to be embraced in the wake of the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Ultimately, the greatest achievement of The River in Reverse is that it, like the music of New Orleans itself, can not be pigeonholed or reduced to one specific thing. It can seem like a party, or it can seem like a bittersweet elegy, which is only appropriate for an album borne out of tragedy but created as a celebration.
Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint
Rating
4.5 Stars
River in Reverse
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
It's impossible to consider The River in Reverse without taking the devastation Hurricane Katrina wreaked upon New Orleans into account. Indeed, it's quite likely that this collaboration between Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint would not even have occurred if it weren't for that cataclysmic event. They've collaborated before -- Toussaint wrote horn charts for Costello's 1989 album Spike -- but neither had plans to work together until they appeared together at a September 2005 Madison Square Garden benefit concert for the victims of Katrina. That kick-started the album that became The River in Reverse. Initially, the plan was for the collaboration to be a songbook album, with Costello and Toussaint performing some highlights from Allen's rich songbook, and while the record bears some remnants of that blueprint -- seven of its 13 songs were written by Toussaint in the '60s and '70s -- the finished work evolved into an elegant, eloquent protest album crafted out of old songs and new. Costello alone wrote the title track, premiering at that benefit concert, and its angry account of the flood that wrecked New Orleans provides a touchstone for the other five new songs here, all co-written with Toussaint. "Broken Promise Land," "Ascension Day," and "International Echo" explore the aftermath of Katrina, while "Six-Fingered Man" is a funny acerbic take on a sinful sloth who is "always the first to blow his horn/His achievements multiply/Pity half of them seem to be lies." Toussaint's presence on these five songs tempers but doesn't dilute the churning anger that roils underneath The River in Reverse: "Broken Promise Land" drives along on a swampy funk rhythm, the spare and laid-back "Ascension Day" is a showcase for Allen's piano, "International Echo" revives the rolling spirit of classic New Orleans R&B, while "Six Finger Man" has a grinding, gritty blues backbeat. All five of these new songs are genuine collaborations, bearing the unmistakable stamp of both highly distinctive musicians, but the best compliment that can be paid to them is that they blend seamlessly with the classic Toussaint songs that comprise the rest of the record. When placed next to explicit songs of protest like "Broken Promise Land," such New Orleans R&B and soul staples as "On Your Way Down," "Tears, Tears and More Tears," "Freedom for the Stallion," and especially "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further" with its chorus of "What happen to the Liberty Bell I heard so much about?/Did it really ding-dong?/It must have dinged wrong/It didn't ding wrong" take on an entirely different, politically charged meaning.
This undercurrent of protest gives The River in Reverse thematic cohesion -- and 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 -- but what makes the album rather extraordinary is that it's as much celebration as it is protest. There is joy and tenderness within the performances of Toussaint, Costello, his backing band the Imposters, and Toussaint mainstays the Crescent City Horns, all captured by Joe Henry's clean yet warm production. If Costello pushes his phrasing a little harder than most interpreters of Toussaint -- not only does Allen himself have an easy, casual delivery, but so did such singers as Lee Dorsey, Aaron Neville, Ernie K-Doe, and Lowell George -- it suits the spirit of when the album was recorded, and Elvis is balanced about by the earthy, natural sound of the band, and Allen's graceful harmonies. As pure music, this is impossible not to enjoy, and this rich blend of R&B, blues, soul, and funk illustrates exactly how important New Orleans is to America's culture, and that it needs to be embraced in the wake of the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Ultimately, the greatest achievement of The River in Reverse is that it, like the music of New Orleans itself, can not be pigeonholed or reduced to one specific thing. It can seem like a party, or it can seem like a bittersweet elegy, which is only appropriate for an album borne out of tragedy but created as a celebration.