Piano master, producer and arranger, composer and songwriter Allen Toussaint has done more than most to promote the musical legacy of New Orleans. With his partner Marshall Sehorn, he set up the Sansu label which brought the focus back to the city after musicians moved away in the 1960s, and proceeded to write and record hundreds of songs for such artists as Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Lee Dorsey and Ernie K-Doe. Later, he developed the New Orleans funk sound with the Meters, Dr. John and the Wild Tchoupitoulas, while rock'n'roll and pop stars from the Rolling Stones to The Searchers, The Hollies, Robert Palmer and even The Who covered his songs. He's also had a stellar solo career as well.
Allen Toussaint performs during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
I've always liked Toussaint's piano playing, which was initially influenced by the "second line" pianist Professor Longhair, one of the key musicians behind the rise of New Orleans R&B after World War II; Toussaint called Longhair his "Bach of Rock". Like his mentor, Toussaint was largely self-taught; he copied everything he heard on the radio and by the time he hit his teens he could play anything you asked him to play from polkas to Bach to jazz and blues.
In 1957, he wrote his first recorded song, Long Lost Love, for Roland Cook, and enjoyed a lucky break by filling in for Huey "Piano" Smith on Shirley and Lee's national tour. By 1958 he was ready to record his first solo album for RCA. Bear Family Records of Germany honoured Toussaint's early legacy with a fabulous collection of 27 instrumental songs that showcase his lyrical piano playing and songwriting skills, Allen Toussaint — The Wild Sound Of New Orleans: The Complete 'Tousan' Sessions, from the RCA sessions as well as rarely heard singles from sessions at Seville. Although the compilation was released in 1992 I hadn't heard it until Don of Dasa BookCafe on Sukhumvit recently pressed a copy into my hands.
For fans of New Orleans music this is a treasure trove. You can hear the early influences on his piano playing, such as the piano signatures of Longhair on the Mardis Gras favourites Nasua, Tim Tam and Pelican Parade or the Albert Ammon-style boogie-woogie piano on Wham Tousan. Ray Charles, who in the late 1950s was one of the hottest tickets in the business and was paving the way for the secularisation of gospel music, was also a key influence and his riffs turn up in the gospel tinged Up The Creek and on the bluesy Po Boy Walk, the latter of which haunts the listener with its minor key framework, what Toussaint called "a Ray Charles/Charles Brown way of thinking".
Allen Toussaint, Complete Sessions
But the biggest hit to come from the album was Java, a perky shuffle with "Oriental" sounding chords. Trumpeter Al Hirt hit the top of the pop charts with it in the early 1960s. Toussaint was credited as "Tousan" as his producer at the time decided his real name would be too difficult for DJs to pronounce. In fact, he was so innocent of the ways of the music business that he gave no titles to his songs, just "Song No.1" and so on. This explains why so many of the titles sound a bit odd; the producer had decided to name most of the songs after race horses.
The Seville sessions were held in 1959 and many of the tracks recorded then were never released. Two songs from these recordings stand out: Up Right and Second Liner, both of which feature what Dr. John has called "The Lick", the rolling piano that Toussaint eventually re-used on Chris Kenner's hit I Like It Like That, and which seems to have again the light, rhythmical touch of Professor Longhair. Secord Liner is a wonderful song.
But it would be wrong to give the impression that Toussaint was at this time merely repeating what others had done before him. Yes, you can hear the riffs and tricks he learned from greats like Longhair but he is playing Allen Toussaint style — his playing today is as light and flowing as it was back in the late 1950s. As with all great musicians he took what others had done or were doing and moved it on.
There are some terrific clips of Toussaint performing on YouTube. One of my favourites is a clip in which he explains the four or five important riffs and rhythms Longhair came up with just after World War II and how they changed R&B (and how pianists played R&B). I showed it to my father, a piano player, on a recent trip back home and while he is a diehard Art Tatum and Fats Waller fan, he was impressed with Toussaint's keyboard explanations and, most importantly his skill on the ivories.
Check it out, you won't be disappointed.
This columnist can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
