South Louisiana delivered yet another bounty of CDs in 2009.
None shined brighter than Allen Toussaint's "The Bright Mississippi," his jazzy collaboration with producer Joe Henry and an all-star cast of modern jazz musicians.
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If you only buy one New Orleans CD?
Make it Allen Toussaint's "The Bright Mississippi" (Nonesuch Records). Producer Joe Henry's bold concept involved using jazz standards by Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt and Duke Ellington instead of Toussaint's own compositions; deploying only one New Orleans' musician, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, along with the likes of Joshua Redman; and recording in New York. But the utterly enchanting result is as New Orleans as the wrought iron balconies of the French Quarter, similarly intricate and sturdy, and equally impressive up close or at a distance.
And that's the truth! And it took a foreigner, Master of Music MadPriest, to call my attention to the new collection by Toussaint. You can listen to excerpts from the tracks at the Nonesuch Records link.
From Lagniappe at NOLA.com.
That was one of the albums I listened to cross country on my iPod. It was fun to hear the contrast of their St James Infirmary with that of Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Love them both.
ReplyDeleteAmelia, it's nice, isn't it? I tried to find a video from the album which showed Allen playing, but none of the songs are posted there yet.
ReplyDeleteThe two versions of St. James Infirmary versions are quite different. I also have Sweet Emma's Preservation Hall version of the song. It's more like Billie Pierce but still different.