A truly epic second line laid rest today to one of New Orleans’ most favored sons, the legendary Allen Toussaint. Toussaint passed away on November 10th, perhaps fittingly after performing earlier in the night in Spain. I don’t know if there is any way possible to fully quantify the effect Allen Toussaint had on the music of New Orleans. In all honesty, it’s quite possible that the only other figure that even comes close to rivaling Toussaint’s influence is Louis Armstrong. If you’re a fan of New Orleans soul and funk, chances are your favorite songs have Toussaint’s fingerprints all over them, whether directly as a musician, songwriter or arranger, or just in the influence he had on virtually all of the musicians, songwriters and arrangers of the 1960s and 1970s when he was truly in the pocket and recording with essentially everyone, Lee Dorsey, Ernie K. Doe, The Meters, The Neville Bros., Betty Harris, Irma Thomas and on and on and on and on. You could have successful soul/northern soul nights just based off of tracks from Toussaint’s catalog and no one would ever tire of hearing them. The ones below are just my personal favorites.

Lee Dorsey – A Lover Was Born

Without a doubt, one of my absolute favorite songs of all-time and absolutely my single favorite thing to dance to. If you ever want to see me completely lost my shit…drop the needle on this record. Lee Dorsey, backed up by the Meters, with Allen Toussaint at the controls…it does not get any better than this right here!

Lee Dorsey & Betty Harris – Take Care Of Our Love

As big fan of Southern deep soul, there had to be one of those slow burning songs on this list. This duet between Dorsey and Betty Harris, where each pledges to remain true to the other while they are physically apart, hits me deep deep down in my heart. As with so much music out of New Orleans, much of the appeal is in the delivery of choice lines like “And don’t let no sweet talking joker, come and confuse what’s going on between you and I.”

Betty Harris – I’m Gonna Get You

One of the things I found myself appreciating at a recent Allen Toussaint tribute put on by Miles and Clifton of Funky Sole, was the great diversity of sounds in the catalog of tracks. Though Toussaint’s hands were all over many tracks in the 60s, there wasn’t a single signature sound or rhythm that is associated with the tracks. They all sound distinctive and have a special sound of their own, even as the elements they’re drawn from are so clearly recognizable as being from New Orleans. “I’m Gonna Get You” starts off as if it might be a version of Toussaint’s “Get Out My Life Woman,” (and when you compare the two, it’s possible that the songs were related, though they don’t quite seem to an answer/response kind of thing), but the use of the horns, the background vocals and Harris’ impassioned phrasing might make you forget that “Woman” even exists. Such is the power of Mr. Toussaint.

The Pointer Sisters – Yes We Can, Can

This was originally recorded with Lee Dorsey, and that version is fine and dandy, but I’ve always favored the Pointer Sisters version of the “Yes We Can, Can.” Something about the mix of all those women’s vocals just gives the song and even greater sense of uplift than the original, and elevates this song above other inspirational soul songs of the period.

Lee Dorsey – Four Corners

As much as I love dancing to “A Lover Was Born” the pure insanity of “Four Corners” comes a close second. As I get older, I have a suspicion that one day someone will play these songs back-to-back and I’ll have a heart attack right there on the dance floor from the excitement. I don’t know who is ultimately responsible for that “Now give me that shaker-maker” line that Dorsey throws out just before the drum break, but I like to think that it came about as this thing was being recorded. I would have loved to have been in the studio when this song was cut, because it sounds like one of the best parties ever committed to vinyl and LORD those drums…thank you Allen Toussaint for bringing this band together and blessing us with one of the most dynamic songs of all time, in addition to all the other gifts you gave us. For this and all of those, we are so very thankful you were in our world and we’ll make sure that future generations know your name and know your songs.

This Saturday it will be my honor to return back to the Funky Sole stage to play some soulful tunes for the people. Been a busy beaver on the record front, and I got more than a few discoveries I’m looking forward to bringing out. Swing through and get sweaty with us on the dancefloor!

Dungen – Flickor Och Pojkar

It’s been almost 5 whole years since Dungen blessed us with new music. I have no idea why they took so long (though hopefully I’ll be able to find out from asking them, keep your fingers crossed on that front!), but I’m thankful the wait is over and we finally have new music from the group in the form of this album Allas Sak. In the beginning, Dungen was essentially the Gustaj Ejstes show, but essentially since Tio Bitar, they’ve been working as a four piece rounded out by Reine Fiske, Mattias Gustavsson and Johan Holmegard. The new album continues a clear progression from the group when you compare their earliest work to the more recent albums. There is definitely a mellower tone as the band has matured and fully truly a band. While they haven’t lost any of their psychedelic leanings, the sound of the group, at least on record, is a bit smoother at the edges and more focused on presenting sounds that flow more fluidly. One of the many things I’ve enjoyed about this group is the frequent inclusion of instrumentals. with such an impeccable attention to sound, it’s always nice to fully experience the music as music. “Flickor Och Pojkar” is a really interesting track, for while it clearly has all of the hallmarks of Dungen’s trademark psych-inflected sound, once the various elements come together when the drums come in, I’d swear this was a “future-funk” instrumental that would find a happy home in the mix with a group like Hiatus Kaiyote. Sounds like this tell me that the band is still searching and still exploring, which is very good for those of us who are fans of Dungen.

{I took a couple week hiatus, mostly just because of the mountain of grading from CSULB, but I’ll be back full force online this week!!!}

One of my absolute favorite bands of the 21st century, Swedish rockers Dungen, will be here in Los Angeles this Sunday performing at the Echo. Headed up by Gustav Ejstes, the band has garnered a dedicated fan base around the world with it’s distinctive psychedelic sound, that is equal parts “retro” as it is “modern.” Few bands around today have the incredible detail and attention to sound that Dungen has, and if you want a chance to see them live, courtesy of Melting Pot, make sure you e-mail me at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com by 3pm Friday, October 23rd!!!

Dungen just released their sixth full-length album, Allas Sak, and included this cheeky video for the song Franks Kaktus, where they appear to be the house band for a mid-1980s/early-1990s public access TV show, with all the sartorial splendor you’d expect from that time period:

Here the band performs several songs from a concert in Stockholm in 2013, which should give you a really good sense of how the show at The Echo will be Sunday night, though I doubt Gustav will be breaking any chairs on stage…then again, you never know:

Vieux Farka Toure & Julia Easterlin – Masters Of War

A chance encounter brought together Vieux Farka Toure and Julia Easterlin and a shared curiousity into each other’s traditions has produced the collaboration, “Touristes.” Malian desert blues mixes seamlessly and beautifully with American roots music on many of the tracks, but their cover of Dylan/Odetta’s “Masters Of War,” really stands out. Let’s hope this is just the beginning of a long musical partnership.

Oakland’s Shannon & the Clams will be making a stop here in LA, with a headlining show at The El Rey on Wednesday, September 23rd. If you’d like to see one of my favorite current vocalists do her thing in our town, make sure to e-mail me at michael[at]meltingpotblog.com by 3pm tomorrow, Tuesday Sept. 22nd!!!

Here’s a little mini-documentary on the making of the band’s most recent, perhaps the best, album Gone By The Dawn:

Here’s the video for the first single from Gone By The Dawn, “Corvette,” which begins with an instrumental lick that’s just begging to be sampled by some adventurous Hip-Hop producer:

Here the band performs “Into A Dream” from Total Fest: