Name: Songbook
Brand: Rounder
SKU: 29976981
Price: 14.97 SGD
Availability: InStock

Songbook

Rating

Album: Songbook
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Introduction	More Info...	0:55
2)	It's Raining	More Info...	3:58
3)	Lipstick Traces	More Info...	1:59
4)	All These Things	More Info...	3:42
5)	Allen Speaks	More Info...	0:39
6)	Brickyard Blues	More Info...	3:32
7)	Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further	More Info...	4:09
8)	With You In Mind	More Info...	3:32
9)	Holy Cow	More Info...	3:02
10)	Introduction To Get Out Of My Life, Woman	More Info...	0:12
11)	Get Out Of My Life, Woman	More Info...	3:02
12)	St. James Infirmary	More Info...	2:23
13)	Soul Sister	More Info...	2:51
14)	The Optimism Blues	More Info...	2:51
15)	It's A New Orleans Thing	More Info...	3:08
16)	Southern Nights	More Info...	13:01

Album: Songbook
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Introduction	More Info...	0:55
2)	It's Raining	More Info...	3:58
3)	Lipstick Traces	More Info...	1:59
4)	All These Things	More Info...	3:42
5)	Allen Speaks	More Info...	0:39
6)	Brickyard Blues	More Info...	3:32
7)	Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further	More Info...	4:09
8)	With You In Mind	More Info...	3:32
9)	Holy Cow	More Info...	3:02
10)	Introduction To Get Out Of My Life, Woman	More Info...	0:12
11)	Get Out Of My Life, Woman	More Info...	3:02
12)	St. James Infirmary	More Info...	2:23
13)	Soul Sister	More Info...	2:51
14)	The Optimism Blues	More Info...	2:51
15)	It's A New Orleans Thing	More Info...	3:08
16)	Southern Nights	More Info...	13:01

Performer Notes

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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine