A N'awlins Christmas

Nobody does festive like New Orleans. That's why tonight's spirited concert at the Strathmore by the Aaron Neville Quintet with opening act Allen Toussaint was a perfect kickoff to our 1st Christmas season in DC.

Allen Toussaint

Best known as a legendary New Orleans producer and songwriter, Toussaint is also an amazing stride pianist in the Big Easy style originated and perfected by such greats as Professor Longhair and James Booker. Accompanied only by himself at a Steinway, Toussaint proceeded to take the audience through a journey of hits he wrote that were made popular by others ... "Mother-in-law" by Ernie K. Doe, "Fortune Teller" by the Rolling Stones, "Working in the Coalmine" by Lee Dorsey, "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley," by Robert Palmer, and "Southern Nights" by Glen Campbell.

Toussaint kept up a running commentary throughout his 45-minute set. At one point, he said he was extremely uncomfortable when interviewers would question him about his music and influences. Instead, he said, he opted to play them and immediately produced an astounding performance piece that featured snippets of more than 25 songs and styles from West Side Story to blues to "Beer Barrel Polka" to classical. Two other highlights were his versions of "St. James Infirmary" (with a middle of the melody of "Summertime" added) and the Arlo Guthrie hit about riding on the City of New Orleans.

Aaron Neville Quintet

For his part of the night, Neville opened with a medley of 50s soul classics bookended by Ben E. King's "Stand by Me."In his 2-hour set, the music was equally divided between Neville Brothers notables ("Congo Square," "Fever," "Yellow Moon"); Christmas classics  ("O Holy Night," "Please Come Home for Christmas," "White Christmas") and standards of soul, Southern gospel and reggae. Of course, for anyone who is an Aaron Neville fan,  there was "Tell It Like It Is" and "Amazing Grace." The actual closer was a clever, fun-filled medley of "Good Night, Irene" and the theme song from the old Mickey Mouse Club (Why? Because we love you.)

Thanks Mr. Neville and Mr.Toussaint for a great early Christmas gift.

Tales, Tidbits, and Traveling Tips
I know Aaron Neville doesn't remember, but he is involved in 1 of my closest brushes with rock n' roll fame. When we lived in South Jersey, we would help our friend Bob Rose with his annual Folk Festival production. One year, we picked Dr. John up at the Wilmington train station and took him back after his performance. Another time we picked Keb' Mo up at the Philly airport, took him out to dinner, and returned him to his motel. And then there were the Neville Brothers. Bob had asked me to accompany the 2 bus drivers to the local motel to pick up the band and bring them back to the venue. When the band members realized I knew the local area, they had 1 question for me: How close are the local fast food places?  (The band got a daily food allowance and they could pocket whatever they didn't spend for food) Meanwhile, the road manager was exasperated because Aaron didn't want  to leave the motel because he was watching a special on the Animal Planet network.On the ride to Bridgeton, I sat with Ivan Neville (Aaron's nephew and keyboardist for Dumstaphunk and Keith Richard's Expensive Winos) and directly behind Aaron, who rested his large, muscled arms on the bus seat. As I talked to Ivan, all I could think was --- my god, that beautiful voice comes from somewhere inside that massive man. Wow.