When the great New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint passed away unexpectedly on tour last year, the city mourned in an almost unprecedented way. It seemed nearly everyone had a story about the musical genius (mine is here); a dapper gentlemen who was simultaneously unknowable, yet supremely accessible.
His body of work was in many ways the same as his persona and it turned out he had new recording in the can, which sheds much light on him as a musician and a man. The posthumous release is out today under the direction of producer Joe Henry.
The album is called American Tunes and it comes across as a collection of songs that define a period in American history and a portrait of Toussaint’s influences. It is a solid recording with solo pieces and tunes with backing instrumentation and special guests that was recorded separately over two sessions. It is not a final statement of a long career. Yet, it will be seen as such by many.
For New Orleans listeners, the elegiac take on “Mardi Gras In New Orleans” and an acoustic version of “Big Chief” will stand out. For other listeners, the versions of Duke Ellington standards, “Lotus Blossom” and “Come Sunday” will demonstrate the depth of Toussaint’s influences as will the inclusion of seminal New Orleans classical composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s, “Danza, op. 33” and Paul Simon’s “American Tune.”
For a man who was a reticent performer for much of his career and a reluctant vocalist, it is telling that though ostensibly a pop record, it is an elegant instrumental album with only three vocals. Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops tears up the blues, “Rocks in My Bed” and then goes to church on the aforementioned “Come Sunday.” But it’s Toussaint’s version of Simon’s “American Tune,” with the lines, “I dreamed I was dying” and “I’m just trying to get some rest,” which will bring tears to the eyes of his innumerable fans. It closes this impressive album.
Toussaint’s death touched many people. I’m sure this album will do the same. It is a sensitive, acoustic approach to songs most people should be familiar with based on their place in the American canon. If they are not, they surely will be after listening to this beautiful epitaph.
