Allen Toussaint, Elvis Costello - The River In Reverse [CD/DVD Combo]
![The River In Reverse [CD/DVD Combo]](/images/The-River-In-Reverse-CD-DVD-Combo-B000FBH476-L.jpg)
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CD Details
Artist: Allen Toussaint, Elvis CostelloEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-06-06
Music Label: Verve Forecast
Soundtracks:
- On Your Way Down
- Nearer To You
- Tears, Tears And More Tears
- The Sharpest Thorn
- Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?
- The River In Reverse
- Freedom Of The Stallion
- Broken Promise Land
- Ascension Day
- International Echo
- All These Things
- Wonder Woman
- Six-Fingered Man
Music reviews of The River In Reverse [CD/DVD Combo]
Music Review: I know they will return like they've never gone away...
Rating: 5 Stars
At the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival earlier this year, Elvis Costello was featured as a "special guest" of Allen Toussaint. That same billing holds true for this entire album. I'm not knocking Costello's contributions - far from it. But the real star of this album is Allen Toussaint. From his songs to his piano playing to his vocals, Allen Toussaint is the primary force behind the music.
Those of us fortunate enough to attend this year's Jazz Fest got a sneak preview of this album, and we knew it was going to be great.
Before the Jazz Fest performance, I was only familiar with Toussaint's more popular songs such as "Working in a Coal Mine" and "Fortune Teller." I was also very aware his masterful piano playing ability and his incredible horn arrangements. One thing I didn't fully appreciate was the depth and breadth of his songwriting.
After an extremely upbeat opening set by Toussaint and his band, Costello joined him on stage for a string of songs beginning with "On Your Way Down," the same song that opens this CD. The biting lyrics made me think it was co-written by Elvis Costello, but I found out later it was indeed entirely written by Toussaint years ago. The song eerily evoked the political mood in post-Katrina New Orleans and seems to be a perfect opener for this album - especially considering some of Costello's more biting lyrics later on.
As he did in New Orleans, Costello evokes a soulfulness on this record that hasn't sounded this strong since Get Happy, and now that his voice has matured even more he sounds even better - especially on "Nearer to You."
Allen Toussaint's vocals shine on "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further." His phrasing is some of the most unique and elegant phrasing in the history of American popular music. Why he hasn't had any major hits featuring his own vocals is a mystery to me. This song also conveys Toussaint's funky side extremely well - Steve Nieve's keyboards also help to add a funky vibe.
While many of the Toussaint classics that Costello chose to cover for this album are equivocally about corruption and impending justice, Costello's original lyrics are more direct and dark. Especially on the title track: "An uncivil war divides the nation, so erase the tape on that final ape running down creation."
To be honest, the darker tone of some of Costello's lyrics seems a bit out of place with Toussaint's generally upbeat vibe. Some of the songs on this album do sound like a dirge in places. Toussaint's performance at the Jazz Festival was more of a resurrection. The smile on his face when he first started perfoming this year was priceless. The upbeat vibe he conveyed from the stage to the crowd was infectious.
He and Costello closed their time together on stage with "Wonder Woman," the second to last song on this CD.
Following Costello's exit from the stage, Toussaint closed his set with "Yes We Can Can" and "There's a Party Going On" - the same song he opened it with. This time he added the chant "Home...Home...Everybody Come Home."
I wish this album had been a little more positive and uplifting at times - just as Toussaint's performance at Jazz Fest was. Still, Costello seemed to be trying to capture the immediate anger felt by many people following Katrina, and on that level his lyrics work. Toussaint's more upbeat songs balance things out a little.
The DVD is definitly worth getting. The documentary "Putting the River in Reverse" captures the recording sessions in Los Angeles and New Orleans. Toussaint's optimism shines and his desire to get back to New Orleans and to celebrate the music at Jazz Fest is clearly evident.
Also worth getting are the albums "I Believe to My Soul" and "Our New Oreans" - both featuring Toussaint on several songs.
For Costello fans (and I am one), this DVD combined with the bonus documentary on his "Club Date" DVD make for a great insight into Costello's appreciation of Southern Soul Music. (From Memphis through Mississippi and Arkansas and ending, with this DVD, in New Orleans)
Description of The River In Reverse [CD/DVD Combo]
The River in Reverse is Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint's spirited and deeply soulful new album, including seven songs from Toussaint's remarkable catalog; five newly written by the two; and one new song, the title track, written by Costello. Sessions for the album took place over a whirlwind two weeks late last year in Hollywood, CA and at Piety Street Studios in Toussaint's hometown of New Orleans. Produced by Joe Henry, the album masterfully combines Costello's band the Imposters with Toussaint's horn section (Amadee Castenell, Joe Smith, Sam Williams, and Brian Cayolle) and guitarist (Anthony Brown).Toussaint led the ensemble from the piano, with Imposters keyboard player Steve Nieve switching to Hammond B3. The majority of the tracks were cut with the entire group in the room and Costello singing live, occasionally adding his guitar to the mix. Costello selected songs from deep within the Toussaint catalogue such as "Nearer To You," "Freedom for the Stallion," and "Tears, Tears and More Tears." Toussaint kicks off the lead vocal on his composition, "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" and trades vocal lines with Costello and bassist Davey Faragher on several other tracks.All of the horn arrangements are marked with Toussaint's distinctive style and, commented Costello, "add a second voice" to the title track, the one song that Costello wrote alone. Just before the recording began, the duo holed up in New York to write together throughout October, a quick-moving process that resulted in four songs on the album of various combinations of words and music.The songwriting collaboration began with Costello writing lyrics for Toussaint's beautiful minor key variation of Professor Longhair's "Tipitina." The resulting piece is now entitled "Ascension Day." Other new titles include "The Sharpest Thorn," "Broken Promise Land," and "International Echo."Toussaint previously produced a 1983 Costello cover of Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice" with the Attractions and the T.K.O. Horns, and also contributed piano to the New Orleans-recorded "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" from Costello's 1989 album Spike.Immediately following Hurricane Katrina, Toussaint relocated to New York City, where the two renewed their musical friendship at several benefit concerts and club gigs during a seven-day period from the 17th of September, leading to discussions of this new album. The powerful song "The River in Reverse" was written by Costello on September 24th, 2005, and performed by him for the first time at that night's "Parting the Waters" benefit event organized by the The New Yorker magazine. More Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint
 King of America Elvis Costello |  Imperial Bedroom Elvis Costello & the Attractions |  Painted from Memory Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach |
 The Wild Sound of New Orleans: The Complete 'Tousan' Sessions Allen Toussaint |  Finger Poppin' and Stompin' Feet: 20 Classic Allen Toussaint Productions for Minit Records 1960-1962 Various Artists |  Connected Allen Toussaint |
Some inspired music has arrived in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (mainly on New Orleans-themed benefit albums), but nothing as audaciously ambitious as this cross-generational collaboration between Crescent City mainstay Allen Toussaint and former British upstart turned adventurously eclectic veteran Elvis Costello. As a songwriter, producer, and arranger, Toussaint has been responsible for hits from artists ranging from Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe, and Lee Dorsey to the Pointer Sisters and Labelle. Costello, long a huge fan of Toussaint's music, sings relatively familiar fare such as "On Your Way Down" and "Freedom for the Stallion" from Toussaint's extensive songbook along with obscurities mainly recorded by Dorsey. Toussaint supplies his distinctive piano and horn arrangements--as well as lead vocals on "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?"--with Costello's Imposters serving as the rhythm section. Yet the real revelation comes from the new material, including the title track (a searing Costello composition in the Toussaint soul-spiritual mode) and five new Costello/Toussaint compositions that spotlight Toussaint's signature sound without diminishing Costello's creative contributions. What could have been a curiosity is instead a hallmark in the catalog of each artist. --Don McLeese
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