Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint

The River in Reverse | Verve Forecast
By CLEA SIMON  |  June 27, 2006
3.0 3.0 Stars


RIVER IN REVERSE: Elvis penned the title track of this Katrina-inspired disc, but Allen Toussaint’s eternally gracious flow is what raises it to higher ground.
Character will out, particularly on an emotional project like the Katrina-inspired River in Reverse. Although it was Allen Toussaint who lost his home in the flood, it’s Elvis Costello who sounds angriest, snarking out the title track. But Toussaint’s eternally gracious flow is what marks this disc, ultimately raising it to higher ground. Although Costello penned the title track, and the two collaborated on five tunes, this is Toussaint’s album, from his deep-catalogue oldies, notably the soulful “Nearer to You,” to current comments like the funky “Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further?” (which alone has his creamy vocals). And if Costello provides the snarls, Toussaint’s voice comes through in his classic cascading piano, more delicate than that of Roland “Professor Longhair” Byrd or Dr. John, and in his tidal-swell arrangements for the Crescent City Horns. Their most collaborative tune may be the disc’s best, the haunting “Ascension Day.” It's credited to Costello, Toussaint, and Byrd, and Costello has described it as Fess’s “Tipitina,” slowed and transposed to a minor key. But in his lyrics, Costello quotes “St. James Infirmary,” and Toussaint’s keyboard filigree conjures 19th-century composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, linking the Crescent City’s past and present.

ELVIS COSTELLO and ALLEN TOUSSAINT | July 12 | Bank of America Pavilion, Northern Ave, Boston | July 12 | 617.228.6000

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