Reflections on Allen Toussaint, 1938-2015

Allen Toussaint, 1938-2015.

Me, my wife Pondie, and the great Allen Toussaint, November 9, 2013.

I was greatly saddened to hear that one of my favorite musicians, the warm and brilliant Allen Toussaint, passed away today. He was a truly gifted songwriter, piano player, and ambassador of New Orleans music. Toussaint worked with many great artists, from The Band to Paul McCartney. Toussaint's album with Elvis Costello, "The River in Reverse," is a classic. Allen Toussaint had tons of style and class. He dressed impeccably, but he was always humble and self-effacing. I was lucky enough to see Allen Toussaint live three times at the Dakota Jazz Club, in 2009, 2011, and 2013. I met him after his 2013 concert, and he was a really nice, sweet guy to talk to. I told him that I had seen him three times in concert, and he said he was glad I kept coming back. I'm glad I kept coming back too and that I got to see a giant of American music live. RIP, Mr. Toussaint.

Concert Review: Allen Toussaint at the Dakota Jazz Club

Allen Toussaint, "Songbook," 2013.

Me, my wife Pondie, and the wonderful Allen Toussaint, November 9, 2013.

Last month my wife and I saw Allen Toussaint at the Dakota. It was the third time I’ve seen Toussaint at the Dakota, and he has put on a great show every time. I reviewed his 2009 show with his band  here. His 2011 show was a solo show, as was the one last month. Toussaint is a wonderful performer to see solo, as his piano playing is the perfect accompaniment to his legendary songs.

Toussaint is a great piano player, and his voice is warm and inviting. At the age of 75, he hasn’t lost a step. He opened the show with a medley of famous instrumentals he wrote, including “Java,” which was a big hit for fellow Crescent City resident Al Hirt, and “Whipped Cream,” which was the theme to “The Dating Game,” and was a big hit for Herb Alpert. Toussaint introduced himself to the crowd, saying, “I’m not so full of myself that I think you all know who I am. I’m Allen Toussaint.” He’s a really humble guy, and seemed genuinely thrilled that people would show up to see him perform. The Dakota was much more crowded than when I saw him in 2009, and both shows were sold out. Toussaint is a musicians’ musician who doesn’t have a huge media profile, but for those music fans in the know, Toussaint’s fingerprints are all over popular music. In addition to writing numerous hit songs for New Orleans artists like “Mother-In-Law,” “Workin’ in the Coal Mine,” and “Fortune Teller,” he wrote arrangements for The Band for their live album “Rock of Ages,” he played the piano on some songs on Paul McCartney’s “Venus and Mars” album, and he made an excellent album with Elvis Costello “The River In Reverse.” Toussaint also has a new live album called “Songbook,” which is full of great live versions of his greatest hits.

In addition to a medley of his famous instrumentals, Toussaint also performed a medley of his New Orleans hits “A Certain Girl,” “Mother-In-Law,” “Workin’ in the Coal Mine,” “Fortune Teller,” and “Lipstick Traces.” Toussaint also sang lovely versions of “It’s Raining” and “Brickyard Blues,” two more hits he wrote for other people. It’s always fun to hear a great songwriter like Toussaint sing their own songs, even though other people had the hits with them. I think the only songs that Toussaint sang that were covers were “St. James Infirmary” and Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans.” (Toussaint invited the audience to sing along “City of New Orleans,” saying, “All white people know this song.”) 

One of the highlights of the show was the last song, “Southern Nights,” which was a big hit for Glen Campbell. Toussaint plays the song much slower than Campbell’s version, and he plays the melody of the song as he speaks about the childhood memories that inspired the song. When I saw Toussaint in 2011, his version of “Southern Nights” was about 15 minutes long, and simply mesmerizing. Toussaint apologized that he didn’t have enough time to tell us the whole story, so it wasn’t quite 15 minutes long, but it was still magical. 

It was a wonderful concert, and afterwards Toussaint signed autographs for people. He was very generous with his time, and of course, super nice to everyone. He’s a true gentleman. I told him that I’ve seen him 3 times, and he said he was glad I kept coming back. Any concert of Allen Toussaint’s is a treat not to be missed. As always, he was impeccably dressed, wearing a blue-purple suit, with a matching pocket square, of course.

Concert Review: Glen Campbell at Mystic Lake Casino

On Friday night I saw Glen Campbell at Mystic Lake Casino on his Goodbye Tour. As most people probably know, Campbell has Alzheimer’s disease and is retiring from performing at the end of this tour. It was a little sad to see Glen having to read song lyrics from a teleprompter, but his voice is still excellent, and his guitar playing is still amazing. I was blown away by Glen’s guitar solos during hits like “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” and “Gentle On My Mind.” His playing looks so effortless, and yet every note of his solos fit the songs so perfectly.

I first came to know Glen Campbell’s music through John Hartford’s song “Gentle On My Mind.” When I was 15 I discovered Elvis Presley’s version of the song and I thought, “This is an amazing song.” Somehow that led me to explore my Mom’s record collection, where I found Glen’s “Gentle On My Mind” album. Once I heard Glen’s version I liked it much more than Elvis’s. I was obsessed with Glen’s version, playing it over and over until I knew all of the words. Oddly enough, I didn’t scour my Mom’s record collection well enough to find John Hartford’s original version of the song-I didn’t hear that until much later. Now I have two favorite versions of that song, Glen’s and John’s. I was entranced by the poetry of those complicated lyrics, and the complex relationship the narrator of the song had with the woman who would always be gentle on his mind. After hearing “Gentle On My Mind” so many times I wanted to hear other Glen Campbell songs, and his Greatest Hits CD was a staple of road trips taken with both my Mom and my Dad. The songs that Glen Campbell sings are a big part of America to me, I guess in part because they name-check so many different American cities. I’ve seen Glen live at least 5 times over the years. The shows have varied in quality-definitely the best one was seeing him at the Minnesota State Fair. I also saw him at Orchestra Hall in 2003 just a day or two before he was arrested for DUI.

If Glen Campbell had never sung a note he would still go down in music history as one of the most important session musicians of the 1960’s, a part of the legendary “Wrecking Crew” that performed on numerous albums during that decade. Campbell played on records by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and was a touring member of the Beach Boys. Campbell finally became a solo star in the late 1960’s thanks to his high, soaring tenor vocals. (His All-American good looks and charm on stage and screen also helped.)

Campbell was backed by a very good band, made up of mostly his children, who gave great support to their father. He seemed to miss the most lyrics on the new songs from his last album, “Ghost on the Canvas.” But Campbell’s voice remains wonderfully expressive-there were some moments during the concert where he hit some great high notes. His vocals on "Wichita Lineman" were amazing. Campbell remained in high spirits throughout the show, showcasing his usual good humor. And his guitar playing is still a joy to hear. All in all, the concert was a great way to say goodbye to one of my favorite performers.

Extremely Belated Concert Reviews from 2011

I went to some great concerts during 2011 that I never got around to writing about in detail, for whatever reason. So here are some reflections about those concerts.

Allen Toussaint, solo at the Dakota. An amazing show. I saw Allen with his band at the Dakota in 2009, but seeing him perform solo was just as awesome. He performed a lot of the hit songs he’s written over the years, including “Mother-In-Law” and “Java.” The highlight of the show was a 10 or 15 minute version of “Southern Nights” with Toussaint playing the melody of the song as he told stories about his childhood. It was beautiful and just mesmerizing.

Elvis Costello, the Spectacular Spinning Songbook Tour at the State Theater. So amazing! Elvis sang about 30 songs over almost 3 hours. I had high expectations for my first time seeing EC in concert, and this show definitely exceeded them. I can’t believe how much energy Elvis has. Elvis did some medleys where he mixed all kinds of songs together, both his own and other people’s, and I thought to myself that these medleys kind of explained his vision of music. Costello probably sees all kinds of music as being linked together, since his own music is so diverse. He gets the links between Broadway, jazz, rock, blues, country, folk, and just about any other genre you could name. Costello is a great showman, as he showed when he talked to the audience members who came up to spin the songbook wheel. He ended up performing just about every song listed on the wheel! Highlights included a gorgeous version of “Shipbuilding,” “Beyond Belief,” “Everyday I Write the Book,” which segued into Prince’s “Purple Rain,” and lovely solo versions of “A Slow Drag with Josephine,” and “Jimmie Standing in the Rain.” For the first time on this blog, the photo is one that I took from my seat.

U2, in the rain at TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota. It was worth the year wait. (The concert was postponed for a year because of Bono’s back injury.) The weather was fine during Interpol’s opening set, but once U2 took the stage it began to drizzle, and finally the skies just opened up. It was an exhilarating feeling, singing along with 60,000 other people to these beautiful, moving songs as rain poured down on us. When you can’t get out of the rain, eventually you get to a point where you’re as wet as you can possibly be, and you don’t seem to get wetter. The rain gave the show an amazing energy that makes this one of the most memorable concerts I’ve ever been to. This is what music is all about, the connections between 60,000 strangers who all know the words to the same song. The highlight for me was probably “Beautiful Day,” as it rained. Like Elvis, Bono also did an impromptu version of Prince’s “Purple Rain” during the encores.

Tony Bennett, Mystic Lake Casino. I’ve seen Tony twice before in concert, and this show was in late August shortly after he had turned 85. I can’t believe how good his voice still is. His voice is still so powerful, he hardly needs a microphone. Tony’s voice is a little ragged around the edges now, but I think that just gives his voice more emotion. Bennett obviously still gets such joy from performing, it’s really fun to see him. He still performs with just a quartet, giving the music a real jazz feel. Highlights included a beautiful version of “Cold, Cold Heart,” and of course, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”