Pianist and composer Allen Toussaint was an avatar of the music from New Orleans. His long and distinguished career touched on a variety of musical genres, none more significant than the blend of the blues and rock and roll. Toussaint, 77, died of a heart attack in Madrid after a performance there at the Lara Theater.
According to the Associated Press, Toussaint was stricken early Tuesday morning. Emergency services called to his hotel were unable to revive him. He stopped breathing during an ambulance ride to the hospital.
Toussaint was born Jan. 14, 1938, in New Orleans and by 7 years of age he was performing on his sister’s piano. Under the influence of blues legend Professor Longhair, he formed his first band, the Flamingos, after dropping out of high school.
He toured with a succession of groups, including the duet Shirley and Lee, before he was lured into the recording studio. One of his first gigs for Dave Bartholomew, who hired him, was backing tracks for Fats Domino. He worked with a gallery of emerging stars before he was 22, and his reputation was widely expanded when he teamed with Ernie K-Doe and his No. 1 R&B-pop hit “Mother-in-Law.”
His stints and dates with such notables as Irma Thomas (“Ruler of My Heart”) and Wilson Pickett, Patti Smith, and Lee Dorsey (“Ride Your Pony”) as pianist and arranger secured his place in the music industry. Toussaint was drafted into the military in 1963 and served two years. Upon discharge from the service, he formed a partnership and launched Sea-Saint Studios in 1972. Joe Cocker, Patti LaBelle, the Meters and the Neville Brothers were among those for whom he backed, arranged or produced. Over the years, his songs have been covered by the Oak Ridge Boys, Devo, Little Feat, Boz Scaggs, Bonnie Raitt and even Lawrence Welk.
In the early 1970s, Toussaint was signed as a solo artist by Warner Brothers. His albums included “Life, Love and Faith,” “Motion” and “Southern Nights.”
