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.