Toussaint (reissue, 1971) KENT
8/10
WATCHING Allen Toussaint late in his career, after his post-Katrina collaboration with Elvis Costello, The River In Reverse, had finally legitimised him as a solo performer, he cut a warm-hearted, gentlemanly figure. Lacking a star’s ego or showmanship, he amply compensated with impish charm and eccentric wit. His mild, modest voice barely brushed his songs, and he amiably acknowledged his own albums’ negligible appeal next to the hits he wrote, produced and arranged for fellow New Orleanians Ernie K-Doe (“Here Come The Girls”), Irma Thomas (“Ruler Of My Heart”), The Meters (“Look-Ka Py Py”) and Dr John (“Right Place, Wrong Time”). He was in his element at the piano, hands skipping and flicking the keys in second-line style, priceless pop history reaching back to Professor…
