By Nick DeRiso For all of her wandering, Allen Toussaint remains this touchstone for New Orleans-born vocalist Christina Gaudet. But Gaudet doesn’t let her lasting affinity for a hometown soul legend pigeonhole her wider ambitions on Solid, though it’s subtitled “Featuring new songs by Allen Toussaint.” She’s particularly adept atRead More

by Nick DeRiso Benny Spellman’s “Fortune Teller,” a witty early-1960s story song, is one of my touchstone party records. Everything about it is perfectly New Orleans, from the pounding piano to this sizzling island-tinged percussion, from a group of yelping, mesmerizingly groovy R&B backup singers to its not one butRead More

by Nick DeRiso Snooks Eaglin, who had been battling prostate cancer, shot to prominence on the strength of 1959’s “New Orleans Street Singer,” a record that even today is a revelation. Mostly, because it sounds nothing like Eaglin, who was as modern and as inventive and as non-traditional as theyRead More

NICK DERISO: “The Ultimate Session” might not completely live up to the billing. Forgive us, however, if we cherish its sense of hip-shaking fun, anyway. Assembled are a who’s-who group of New Orleans musicians who played nearly five decades before with the likes of Little Richard, Fats Domino and ProfessorRead More

Nick and I have both been on a long-running campaign here to get Allen Toussiant his due. His imprint on New Orleans R&B, and American music in general is hard to escape but since he’s been more of a behind-the-scenes guy, his name doesn’t usually come up as often asRead More

As Mac Rebbenack, aka Dr. John the Night Tripper, says: He’s done “whatever I had to do to get the job did.” Over the years, this amounts to a list of jobs including, but not limited to, snot-nosed duck-tailed rocker, record producer, songwriter, way-out psychedelic pop star, reliable recording-session sidemanRead More

Rock Roll Hall of Famer Allen Toussaint brought me to James Hunter’s “The Hard Way,” produced by Liam Watson of the White Stripes and set for June 10 release on Hear Music. But Hunter — a remarkably soulful presence in the style of Jackie Wilson, Van Morrison, Ray Charles andRead More

Decades before it became a catchy rallying cry for an historic presidential campaign, “Yes We Can” was associated with an inspired message of another kind: the essence of New Orleans-styled funk. Crescent City all-world songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint has done more in his behind-the-scenes role to shape New OrleansRead More

by S. Victor Aaron A few years ago I came across a list of the all-time “50 funkiest songs.” I remember an entry in there for The Meters, I think it was “Cissy Strut.” Pffft, what a useless excercise. Try coming up with “The Fifty Funkiest Meters Songs.” If youRead More

Fans of his so-called comeback projects shouldn’t skip over ‘Connected’ as they make a bee line for Allen Toussaint’s classic-era albums.