RIP Allen Toussaint

One of the giants of New Orleans jazz has left us. Allen Toussaint passed away early in the morning today (November 10th). While others more well informed on jazz will write a lot more on his legacy, I wanted to shed a bit of my own experience with his music.

Allen Toussaint grew up around music in a shotgun shack in New Orleans and is one of the most celebrated and successful musicians from the always vibrant New Orleans music scene. He was a musician, mainly on piano and vocals, a producer, a mentor, a composer, a song-writer and an arranger. The people he's worked with could fill a book. He's written music for Al Hirt, The Neville Brothers, Lee Dorsey, The Rolling Stones, Irma Thomas, The O'Jays and more. His greatest successes came as a producer in the 60s and 70s, for artists like the Nevilles and Lee Dorsey. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Allen Toussaint was in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005 and he was among the musicians feared killed by the storm, but he survived. He left New Orleans for New York. He was instrumental in raising money and rebuilding the city, along with other big names from the New Orleans scene. His 2009 album, The Bright Mississippi, ended up on many critics best of lists that year,

From my own experience, I know Allen Toussaint's music for three reasons. The first is fairly obscure, for Devo's cover of "Working in a Coalmine" from New Traditionalists. Devo's version of the song morphs it from a sad, soulful ode to the hard work and toil of a coalminer into a quirky, staccato new wave track about working robotically and enjoying it. I also found that Warren Zevon's "A Certain Girl" was a Toussaint song, a song that I enjoyed from Zevon and seems a bit out of place in his catalogue of songs, having a whimsical and playful tone that Zevon's usual somber and biting songwriting lacks. In 2006, Toussaint was tracked down by Elvis Costello, who helped him raise money for New Orleans relief and they collaborated on a wonderful album called The River in Reverse.

Released soon after Hurricane Katrina and while the tragedy was still fresh in everyone's mind, Toussaint and Costello's mutual and considerable gifts came together to make an album startling in it's emotion and beauty. Toussaint's piano playing deftly dances between sorrow and grief to hope and triumph. The River in Reverse celebrates the power of the human spirit, the joy of music and the soulful humanity of New Orleans. I'm not ashamed that the album moved me to tears several times upon listening to it that year, and I listened to it a lot. I chose it as one of my favourite albums that year.

Allen Toussaint was in Madrid for a concert when he passed away. He was 77.