Allen toussaint songbook11/28/2023 ![]() Modesty had a lot to do with it Allen Toussaint still is not the first person one would go to for information on Allen Toussaint. Buoyed by a groundswell of support, he worked at something that years of success in the studio had allowed him to avoid: getting truly comfortable on the stage by himself, laying claim to his own songs. In order to recover – financially, musically, spiritually – Toussaint relocated to New York City and began to perform solo concerts, using Joe’s Pub on Lafayette Street as a home base. With a honed sense of dry humor, Toussaint calls 2005’s Hurricane Katrina his booking agent, crediting the storm for rebooting his career as a performer after flooding him out of home and studio. And today, he’s taking the stage all over the world, with all kinds of incredible talent, doing everything he can to revive the legendary soul of the Big Easy.” And since then, Allen has devoted his musical talent to lifting up and building up a city. In his remarks, President Obama noted Toussaint’s “incredible contributions to the rhythm and blues and jazz music of his beloved New Orleans,” and went on to say “After his hometown was battered by Katrina, and Allen was forced to evacuate, he did something even more important for his city – he went back. On July 10, 2013, President Barack Obama presented Toussaint with the prestigious National Medal of Arts. He’s been sampled by such hip-hop heavyweights as O.D.B., Biz Markie, KRS One and OutKast, and appeared nationally on TV and radio – often on the urging of such longtime fans as Paul Shaffer and Harry Shearer, and most recently on the HBO series Treme. ![]() He’s been Grammy® nominated and inducted into a number of Halls of Fame. Since ’96, he’s recorded seven albums and collaborated with the likes of Elvis Costello and Eric Clapton. In the last fifteen years, Toussaint has experienced a growing resurgence of activity and recognition. In so many ways, his enduring career - as this collection so vividly illustrates - serves as an ongoing tribute to the city of his birth. Though Toussaint has begun to travel far and wide as of late, he never stays away from New Orleans for long – and his music never does. He has an ever-growing international circle of fans, and though previously reluctant to tour, in recent years he’s become a more familiar figure at music festivals and popular nightclubs around the world. ![]() His tunes continue to pop up as TV themes and advertising jingles. His catalog of songs has generated hits on the pop, R&B, country and dance charts, and many remain on heavy rotation in various radio formats. ![]() His studio productions have sold millions of discs and downloads. The list of those who have benefited in one way or another from Allen Toussaint’s touch is staggering in its historic and stylistic range, stretching from the late 1950s to the present day, with no end in sight. ![]() The Rounder release offers a deluxe version which will include a CD with 25 songs and a 90-minute DVD that features the second of two live performance filmed at Joe’s Pub in September 2009, plus a 25-minute studio interview and a standard CD that offers 12 of Toussaint’s classic compositions interpreted by the legendary songsmith himself. The DVD includes an in-depth interview with Toussaint, conducted by producer (and longtime friend) Paul Siegel. The album and accompanying DVD were recorded over two nights in the fall of 2009 at venerable New York City nightspot Joe’s Pub. Rounder released Allen Toussaint’s Songbook, featuring performances of twenty five of Toussaint’s songs captured on CD and DVD. For more information contact Ashley Moyer with Rounder Records: NOMINATED 2014 BEST AMERICANA ALBUM ![]()
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