NEW ORLEANS FESTIVALS - Jazz Fest Features

JAZZ - Allen Toussaint

Legendary producer and pianist Allen Toussaint is behind enough hits to create his own personal top 100, from Ernie K-Doe's Mother-In-Law to Al Hirt's Java to Dr. John's Right Time Wrong Place to Labelle's Lady Marmalade. Though mostly he is known for his R&B work, he doesn't see anything startling about setting his sights on a jazz project.

"In New Orleans, we have a jazzy garden so, of course, the plants are jazzy," he says. "Whether it's an azalea or a rose." Toussaint has been working on a jazz recording of his own and will perform its material at the Jazz Fest this year.

From his earliest interest in playing piano, Toussaint has not seen boundaries for a musician. By 12 years old, he was playing in barrooms to help support his family. "When I was a child learning to play the piano, I thought all musicians played everything," he says. "Anything you heard for an instrument you would play."

New Orleans' Professor Longhair was Toussaint's first real inspiration, bringing him into the rollicking local rhythm and blues scene. He also listened to the recordings of Ray Charles and drew from everything he heard. At the age of 17, Toussaint was plucked by Dave Bartholomew to help with recording for Fats Domino. Toussaint filled in piano parts while Fats was on the road. But he developed his own style of funky, piano-led dance music.

Toussaint develped a passion for producing and spent much of his career crafting hits for other musicians. In his early 20s, he became the powerhouse songwriter and arranger for Minit Records' cast of artists. His early work included hits like Irma Thomas' It's Raining and Lee Dorsey's Working in a Coal Mine. He penned the tunes Southern Nights, which became a hit for Glen Campbell, and Whipped Cream for Herb Alpert.

It wasn't long before musicians were beating a path to New Orleans to record and Toussaint was one of the prime reasons. While more eccentric musicians became stars, the soft-spoken, always dapper-dressed Toussaint did more than anyone to define New Orleans rhythm and blues. Later, Toussaint helped launch the Meters, after he and Marshall Sehorn found them on Bourbon Street as Art Neville and the Neville Sound. They invited the band in to the studio to be the house band backing other talents but then recognized their potential.

Together with Sehorn, Toussaint set up Sea-Saint Studios. There they worked with Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Joe Cocker, and many more. In his career, Toussaint has also worked with Otis Redding, Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello and Robert Palmer. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in 1998.

The jazz project brings jazz arrangements to some R&B hits and New Orleans sounds, including It's Raining. He even found a Meters tune that he's turned around for jazz. For such a prolific songwriter, it's one of the rare recording projects focusing on himself. The show is also one of the rare concerts Toussaint performs. Though he's one of the city's most recognizable faces and greatest influences on its music, Toussaint takes it all in stride and lets the songs speak for themselves.