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Formats and Editions
1. Egyptian Fantasy
2. Dear Old Southland
3. St. James Infirmary
4. Singin' the Blues
5. Winin' Boy Blues
6. West End Blues
7. Blue Drag
8. Just a Closer Walk with Thee
9. Bright Mississippi
10. Day Dream
11. Long, Long Journey
12. Solitude
More Info:
Through his work as producer, composer, arranger and consummate session man, New Orleans native Allen Toussaint has truly earned living-legend status. On the Bright Mississippi, his Nonesuch debut, Toussaint continues to break new ground with his first jazz-oriented set, displaying the same effortless swing and relaxed charm he brought to his classic rock and roll sides. He salutes Big Easy stars of a previous generation, the jazz greats who, in the early 20th century, built the genre from the ground up and turned the ears of the world to New Orleans. Backed by an all-star combo that sounds like a group of old friends, Toussaint reinterprets classic jazz and blues tunes popularized or written by such New Orleans greats as Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton and Joe "King" Oliver, as well as pieces composed by fellow travelers Django Reinhardt, Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk.Reviews:
New Orleans has never wanted for pianists. Jazz, blues, funk, rock ‘n’ roll—each genre has coughed up more than its share of keyboard masters. Maybe that’s why Allen Toussaint—a bona fide legend in a town that never wanted for legends either—has always been better known as a songwriter and producer than a piano whiz, despite his numerous studio gigs and tours. Or maybe it’s just that when you’ve got so many hits to your credit, your instrumental prowess can get overlooked.With The Bright Mississippi, singer-songwriter Joe Henry has set about to remedy this oversight. When Toussaint produced a Henry album a few years back, the latter came up with the idea of Toussaint recording an album of instrumental jazz standards. Henry’s lent the pianist a few of his regular collaborators—Marc Ribot on acoustic guitar, David Piltch on upright bass and Jay Bellerose on drums. Clarinetist Don Byron and trumpeter Nicholas Payton help round out the sound.
Byron and Payton weave and wend around one another to create a kind of avant-Dixieland sound on "Egyptian Fantasy." Byron steps to the fore with a ghostly solo on "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." And Ribot lends a chunky downbeat on a downright florid "Singin’ the Blues." But Toussaint is clearly the bandleader here, whether he’s ragging the rhythm of "A Dear Old Southland" with a blocky left hand and jumping off into fluid improvisation on the right, or just waxing lyrical on "Day Dream." Throughout, it’s a sound that’s unmistakably New Orleans.
