 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
October 18
Allen Toussaint Quartet
The Triple Door, 7 & 9:30$26 BUY ONLINE
Composer, producer, pianist, singer, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Allen Toussaint is a living legend. His work in the 1960s and 1970s helped define the sound of R&B, soul, and funk as we hear it today. Penning such songs as “Working in the Coal Mine,” performed by Lee Dorsey, “Ruler of My Heart,” by Irma Thomas, and “Mother-in-Law,” by Ernie K-Doe, Toussaint’s contributions to modern music extend far beyond what is commonly acknowledged. Combined with the easygoing charm and style of his home city of New Orleans, Toussaint has established himself as a true joy of song and culture.
Immersed in the second-line rhythms of Professor Longhair, Toussaint came of age in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town, where his mother welcomed musicians to her home to practice with the young Toussaint. At 17 years old, Toussaint was introduced to the Dew Drop Set, who performed regularly at an uptown nightclub, and began a musical relationship which would lead to his debut RCA album, The Wild Sound of New Orleans (1958). The instrumental album featured the tune “Java,” which later became a hit under Al Hirt.
Toussaint took a major leap forward with the Minit and Instant labels from 1960-63. He helped produce, write, and arrange a string of legendary sides for New Orleans R&B artists such as Lee Dorsey, Jessie Hill, Ernie K-Doe, and Chris Kenner. Ernie K-Doe’s hit “Mother-in-Law” exposed much of the greater U.S. to New Orleans piano styles for the first time, while Toussaint’s “Fortune Teller” became a sort of live standard among British bands, including The Rolling Stones and The Who. As writer Ed Ward put it, “Toussaint was the main exponent of what the locals called the carnival sound – a raucous, polyrhythmic beat that was solid but complex, like a rhythm and blues rumba crossed with the second-line rhythms of Professor Longhair.”
In the 1970s, Toussaint continued to develop his songwriting alongside the rapidly shifting worlds of funk and soul. A natural collaborator, Toussaint contributed to works by Paul McCartney and Wings (for their hit album Venus and Mars), Labelle, and Glen Campbell, who carried Toussaint’s “Southern Nights” to number one on the Pop, Country, and Adult-Contemporary charts.
More recently, Toussaint has begun to explore his own songbook more thoroughly as a performer, particularly after the 2005 Nonesuch release Our New Orleans. “I hadn’t tackled them on my own,” Toussaint explains, “‘Tackle is a bad word – I hadn’t caressed them on my own, except to listen from time to time in passing. I knew they existed, of course, but, no, I hadn’t played them before. Even the gigs that I’ve done during my gigging days, I was playing whatever was on the radio at the time, boogie-ing and woogie-ing and the like. I hadn’t been through this standard bag. I always loved those songs, but I had never been in a setting where that is what I would do for a while. Until now.”
The New Orleans legend performs with his quartet of Renard Poche (guitar), Roland Guérin (bass), and Herman LeBeaux (drums).
– Peter Walton
Allen Toussaint Quartet
The Triple Door, 7 & 9:30$26 BUY ONLINE
 |
| Photo by Daniel Sheehan |
Immersed in the second-line rhythms of Professor Longhair, Toussaint came of age in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town, where his mother welcomed musicians to her home to practice with the young Toussaint. At 17 years old, Toussaint was introduced to the Dew Drop Set, who performed regularly at an uptown nightclub, and began a musical relationship which would lead to his debut RCA album, The Wild Sound of New Orleans (1958). The instrumental album featured the tune “Java,” which later became a hit under Al Hirt.
Toussaint took a major leap forward with the Minit and Instant labels from 1960-63. He helped produce, write, and arrange a string of legendary sides for New Orleans R&B artists such as Lee Dorsey, Jessie Hill, Ernie K-Doe, and Chris Kenner. Ernie K-Doe’s hit “Mother-in-Law” exposed much of the greater U.S. to New Orleans piano styles for the first time, while Toussaint’s “Fortune Teller” became a sort of live standard among British bands, including The Rolling Stones and The Who. As writer Ed Ward put it, “Toussaint was the main exponent of what the locals called the carnival sound – a raucous, polyrhythmic beat that was solid but complex, like a rhythm and blues rumba crossed with the second-line rhythms of Professor Longhair.”
In the 1970s, Toussaint continued to develop his songwriting alongside the rapidly shifting worlds of funk and soul. A natural collaborator, Toussaint contributed to works by Paul McCartney and Wings (for their hit album Venus and Mars), Labelle, and Glen Campbell, who carried Toussaint’s “Southern Nights” to number one on the Pop, Country, and Adult-Contemporary charts.
More recently, Toussaint has begun to explore his own songbook more thoroughly as a performer, particularly after the 2005 Nonesuch release Our New Orleans. “I hadn’t tackled them on my own,” Toussaint explains, “‘Tackle is a bad word – I hadn’t caressed them on my own, except to listen from time to time in passing. I knew they existed, of course, but, no, I hadn’t played them before. Even the gigs that I’ve done during my gigging days, I was playing whatever was on the radio at the time, boogie-ing and woogie-ing and the like. I hadn’t been through this standard bag. I always loved those songs, but I had never been in a setting where that is what I would do for a while. Until now.”
The New Orleans legend performs with his quartet of Renard Poche (guitar), Roland Guérin (bass), and Herman LeBeaux (drums).
– Peter Walton
WELCOME | SCHEDULE | GLANCE | ARTISTS | TICKETS | SITES | ACCOMMODATIONS | STAFF | SUPPORTERS | VOLUNTEER
JOIN EARSHOT | EARSHOT.ORG
JOIN EARSHOT | EARSHOT.ORG
