Allen Toussaint - Songbook (Deluxe Edition) (2013)

Tracklist

01. Introduction
02. It's Raining
03. Lipstick Traces
04. Allen Speaks
05. Brickyard Blues
06. With You In Mind
07. Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further
08. Sweet Touch Of Love
09. Holy Cow
10. Introduction To Get Out Of My Life, Woman
11. Get Out Of My Life, Woman
12. Freedom For The Stallion
13. St. James Infirmary
14. Introduction To Shrimp Po-Boy, Dressed
15. Shrimp Po-Boy, Dressed
16. Soul Sister
17. All These Things
18. We Are America / Yes We Can
19. The Optimism Blues
20. Old Records
21. Certain Girl Medley: Certain Girl / Mother-in-Law / Fortune Teller / Working In The Coal Mine
22. It's A New Orleans Thing
23. I Could Eat Crawfish Everyday
24. No Place Like New York
25. Southern Nights

Allen Toussaint experienced a late-career revival sparked, ironically enough, by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He had to leave his hometown New Orleans after the hurricane, relocating to New York City where he started to play regular gigs at Joe's Pub and, soon enough, he cut The River in Reverse with Elvis Costello. That 2006 album propelled Toussaint toward a greater audience, leading to more headlining concerts, two of which are chronicled on Rounder's 2013 release Songbook. Recorded in 2009 at Joe's Pub, Songbook features nothing more than Toussaint alone at a piano running through songs he's written over the decades. He sprinkles in a New Orleans standard here and there - there's an excellent rendition of "St. James Infirmary" - but the spotlight is on his peerless originals, songs that are standards in their own right: "Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)," "Holy Cow," "Get Out of My Life, Woman," "Yes We Can," a medley of "A Certain Girl/Mother-in-Law/Fortune Teller," "Southern Nights." Toussaint's voice sounds smooth and silky - he in no way seems as if he's in his seventies - and his piano is similarly nimble as it glides from signature New Orleans stride and boogie to sophisticated, elegiac chords. Perhaps this album packs no revelations - there are no rearrangements, nothing unexpected in the songs - but as an elegant summation of strengths, this Songbook is mighty attractive.

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