Allen Toussaint Has Died

He suffered a heart attack in his Madrid hotel room on November 10 and was revived once by paramedics, according to reports by the Times-Picayune. However, he stopped breathing during his ambulance ride and was unable to be revived.

As a producer he worked with many legendary acts, and his work with The Band created music that would comprise a few of their finest, and become the back bone of the legendary film The Last Waltz. In 2013, he produced a recording in New Orleans by piano-playing San Diego singer-songwriter A.J. Croce, a lifelong Toussaint fan. In fact, Gram Parsons’ desire to make what he called “cosmic American music” was perhaps more fully realised by Toussaint, because he cast his net wider. One of Allen Toussaint’s many masterpieces. He produced, arranged and wrote a string of classic sides for a host of New Orleans rhythm and blues artists.

His words – combining sophisticated social comment and a knowing, earthy wit in the New Orleans tradition – seemed always apt, whether coming from the pugnacious mechanic/boxer Lee Dorsey, whose best work he helmed, or Elvis Costello. In 1956, Toussaint had his first song recorded, “Long Lost Love”, by Roland Smith.

Though The Wild Sounds of New Orleans wasn’t an immediate success, it gave Toussaint a springboard into a busy career writing and producing for other artists. Labelle recorded their 1975 chart-topper “Lady Marmalade” at Sea-Saint with Toussaint.

At the time of his death, Toussaint was scheduled to perform with friend Paul Simon at a December 8th benefit for New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness, a charity Toussaint helped found. Below, watch video from Toussaint’s final performance. Almost eight years after Katrina, Toussaint returned permanently to the city of his birth and so much of his musical inspiration. That same year, Tulane University awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Toussaint was on tour across Europe and set to play London’s Barbican this Sunday.

Toussaint is survived by his son Clarence (aka Reginald) and daughter Alison, not to mention a host of grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending.