Allen Toussaint (1938 - 2015)

Born 14 Jan 1938 in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Ancestors

Died 10 Nov 2015 at age 77 in Madrid, Spain

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Biography

Allen Toussaint lived in Louisiana.

Allen Toussaint is Notable.

Allen Toussaint was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer, who was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues.

Allen Richard Toussaint was born in the Gert Town district of New Orleans in 1938,^[1] the youngest of three children of Clarence Toussaint and Naomi Neville.

At an early age Allen showed interest in music and took lessons from an elderly neighbor. His first recording was in 1957 as a stand-in for Fats Domino on Domino's record "I Want You to Know", on which Toussaint played piano and Domino overdubbed his vocals.^[2]

Allen's performing and publishing career flourished in the mid to late 1960's. Toussaint was drafted into the US Army in 1963 but continued to record when he was on leave.

After his discharge in 1965, he joined forces with Marshall Sehorn^[3] to form Sansu Enterprises, which included a record label, Sansu. The Toussaint-produced records of these years backed by the members of the Meters, with their increasing use of syncopation and electric instrumentation, built on the influences of Professor Longhair and others before them and paved the way for the development of a modern New Orleans funk sound.^[4]

Most of Toussaint's possessions, including his home and recording studio, Sea Saint, were lost during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.He initially sought shelter at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel on Canal Street.Following the hurricane, whose aftermath left most of the city flooded, he left New Orleans for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and for several years settled in New York City.

Toussaint was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2009, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2013 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.^[5]

Allen Toussaint died in Madrid, Spain on November 10 2015 while on tour. Following a concert, he had a heart attack in his hotel room and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

In 2016, he posthumously won the 'Pinetop Perkins Piano Player' title at the Blues Music Awards.^[6] He is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery and Mausoleum in New Orleans.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KL4C-GGF : 22 May 2014), Allen R Toussaint, Residence, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
2. ↑ Lichtenstein, Grace; Dankner, Laura (1993). Musical Gumbo: The Music of New Orleans. W. W. Norton. pp. 110–122.
3. ↑ Richard Williams, "Allen Toussaint obituary", The Guardian, November 11, 2015
4. ↑ "The Meter Men Featuring Ivan Neville". Tulane University. New Orleans
5. ↑ "National Medal of Arts | NEA". Arts.gov. February 27, 2014
6. ↑ "2016 Blues Music Awards Winner List". Blues411.com
7. ↑ "U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current"
   Ancestry Record 60525 #182441421 (accessed 14 February 2022)
   Allen Toussaint burial (died on 9 Nov 2015) in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States of America.

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/154880435/allen-toussaint: accessed May 21, 2024), memorial page for Allen Toussaint (14 Jan 1938–9 Nov 2015), Find A Grave: Memorial #154880435, citing Mount Olivet Cemetery and Mausoleum, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.