Allen Toussaint Solo

[RitaZero]

I was fortunate to be in the audience at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA for a solo performance by Mr. Toussaint last evening. The Kuumbwa is a very small room (8 rows) with good sound. The stage is just large enough to hold his baby grand piano.

In his soft spoken and humble manner, Allen told the origins of the songs he played for us. At one point he said that most of his career had been spent in a studio waiting for a red light to go on doing take after take of song after song. He said that one of the blessings of Katrina was he was forced to leave home, which in turn got him to perform live. The fact that he found blessings in the horrific "thing" that was Katrina caused me to shed a tear, and be thankful at the same time.

He told a wonderful story about Southern Nights where as a child he spent many days slipping into night on a relative's porch in the country outside of New Orleans. Someone requested Freedom for the Stallions, which I had never heard before. It was incredibly played and the highlight of the evening for me. Of course my thoughts turned to Ozzie during "Yes You Can (Tan)." May the healing power of music bring Tanya to New Orleans this spring.

Allen Toussaint is a national treasure. Santa Cruz was blessed by his presence last night.

[BigDag]

That's wonderful, Rita. Thanks for sharing.

[Jim]

I saw him this past week in San Francisco. Just a wonderful show!

[swag]

Nice :)

[stynger]

Looking forward to seeing him in Atlanta in April.

[Fred (Texas JF Fanatic)]

Thanks for the report. Damn, you were lucky to catch him in a small venue.
Here is one hour of Toussaint on Austin City Limits. enjoy
http://video.pbs.org/video/1378867539/

[Canine Horror]

Thanks for the report. Damn, you were lucky to catch him in a small venue.
Here is one hour of Toussaint on Austin City Limits. enjoy
http://video.pbs.org/video/1378867539/

Seems like a good opportunity to remind folks that Mr. Toussaint will be at Snug Harbor on the "Tuesday between", 27th April. I presume there will be the usual two sets.
An incredibly good venue to catch him... but it will sell out pretty quickly of course.

[Fred (Texas JF Fanatic)]

Wish I was going to be in town on Tuesday. In the ACL video Steve Masakoski plays some mean guitar. I sure hope the cubes are nice for me on 1st Sat for the Steve Masakowski Guitar feat:

[Jim]

Thanks for the report. Damn, you were lucky to catch him in a small venue.
Here is one hour of Toussaint on Austin City Limits. enjoy
http://video.pbs.org/video/1378867539/

The Austin City Limits performance is great! I hope it comes out as an official release.

[chazmo]

We got to see him last week at Great American Music Hall in S.F. GAMH is laid out a lot like the original Tipitina's, with a balcony around the sides and back. We got there early and got seats on the rail in the balcony at stage right. A wonderful evening. Although his big band shows are good, as at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass last October, his solo shows are fantastic. I second everything Rita and Jim said above. I don't think there were more than about 100 people there, but everyone knew his stuff. When he did "A Certain Girl", the crowd asked "What's her name?" at the right times. His storytelling on Southern Nights was amazing. He was quetly playing in the background, while telling this extended story. I have no idea how long it went on, but I did not want it to stop. At one point, after he had been playing about an hour and a half, a stage hand pointedly placed a towel on the piano as a signal that it was time to wrap it up. He didn't care. He laughed, "They threw in the towel on me like I'm a boxer in trouble." And, then went on and played about 15 minutes more. If you get a chance to see him solo, jump on it. You won't regret it.

[Fred (Texas JF Fanatic)]

You folks are killing me with these Toussaint reports. THANKS!!!!!