Tue 10/14 @ 7:30PM
Hardly anyone embodies the spirit of New Orleans music more than the tandem of producer/songwriter/pianist/Rock Hall inductee Allen Toussaint and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who will be performing at the Music Box Supper Club.
The 76-year-old Toussaint’s legacy goes back to the late ’50s when he began to amass his impressive list of credits as a performer, songwriter, recording artist, sideman, and producer. He’s written hits like Glen Campbell’s “Southern Nights,” Lee Dorsey’s “Working in the Coal Mine” and the unforgettable Ernie K-Doe’s deathless “Mother-in-Law.” By the ’70s, he was shaping the sounds coming from his hometown, working with artists like the Meters and Dr. John and acquiring a reputation that landed him work far beyond its boundaries with artists like the Band, Labelle and John Mayall. Sadly, he was driven from the city by Hurricane Katrina and now lives in NYC. But he undoubtedly carries the New Orleans musical DNA wherever he goes.
About the same time Toussaint was kicking his career into gear, a couple from New York, Allen and Sandra Jaffe, was working to protect New Orleans’ traditional jazz by founding the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in 1961. Employing both old timers and younger musicians as the first generation faded away, the band has been in large part responsible for both schooling young players in old traditions and disseminating music that was close to extinct. Now led by the founders’ son Ben Jaffe (Oberlin ’93) who also plays bass and tuba, the group tours widely.
Tickets are $48 in advance, $55 at the door.
hmusicboxcle.com/allen-toussaint/