The Bright Mississippi

The Bright Mississippi
Studio album by Allen Toussaint
Released April 21, 2009
Recorded March 19–22, 2008
Genre Blues, R&B, jazz
Length 1:01:27
Label Nonesuch
Producer Joe Henry
Allen Toussaint chronology

The River in Reverse, with Elvis Costello
(2006)		 The Bright Mississippi
(2009)

The Bright Mississippi is an album by New Orleans Jazz and R&B pianist Allen Toussaint released on Nonesuch Records in 2009. It was produced by Joe Henry and features various guest artists, including Brad Mehldau, Joshua Redman and Nicholas Payton.

The album title is taken from the 1963 Thelonious Monk song of the same name and features a new version of the song. The album is a unique juxtaposition of modern and traditional jazz tunes with stylistic cues drawn from both worlds. In an interview shortly after it was released, Nick Spitzer noted that "there's a parade beat to it, a bit of a strut and shuffle. Are you merging the worlds of Monk and Toussaint?” “Well, there's no way around that,” Toussaint replied.[1]

Though mostly known for R&B, this is Toussaint's second jazz album. The first was Allen Toussaint's Jazzity Project: Going Places, released online through cdbaby in 2004.

Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it a very favorable review on Allmusic, saying it "stands alone among Toussaint albums".[2]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 83[3]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Robert Christgau (A-)[4]

Track listing

  1. "Egyptian Fantasy" (Sidney Bechet, John Reid) – 4:41
  2. "Dear Old Southland" (Raymond Bloch) – 6:19
  3. "St. James Infirmary (Traditional) – 3:52
  4. "Singin’ the Blues" (Con Conrad, J. Russel Robinson) – 5:40
  5. "Whinin’ Boy Blues" (Jelly Roll Morton) – 6:42
  6. "West End Blues" (Joe Oliver, Clarence Williams) – 3:52
  7. "Blue Drag" (Django Reinhardt) – 4:22
  8. "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" (Traditional) – 5:11
  9. "Bright Mississippi" (Thelonious Monk) – 5:08
  10. "Day Dream" (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) – 5:27
  11. "Long, Long Journey" (Leonard Feather) – 4:51
  12. "Solitude" (Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Eddie DeLange) – 5:31 [5]

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Toussaint, Allen (26 Aug 2009). "Saints Alive: After the Storm XI". National Public Radio. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Bright Mississippi". Allmusic. Allmusic.com. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  3. ↑ The Bright Mississippi
  4. ↑ CG: Allen Toussaint
  5. ↑ "Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi". Nonesuch Records Catalogue. Nonesuch Records. Retrieved 7 May 2012.