R&B legend Toussaint dies

NEW YORK: R&B legend Allen Toussaint, one of the signature forces in New Orleans music whose songs have been played by a who’s who of rock greats, has died, local television said Tuesday.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who was 77, died hours after a performance Monday in Madrid, his family told New Orleans station WWL.
Raised in a humble home, Toussaint from a young age mingled with many of New Orleans’ leading musicians and helped make the city — best known as the birthplace of jazz — a global center for R&B production of popular songs.
Artists who came to Toussaint included Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Joe Cocker and The Rolling Stones, whose early hit “Pain in My Heart” was penned by the New Orleans great.
“He brought the New Orleans sound to the national stage, and it remains a vital and ongoing part of our musical heritage to this day,” reads his biography at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where was inducted in 1998.
A lifelong New Orleans resident, the songwriter and pianist reluctantly fled in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, temporarily relocating to New York.
But he returned and has since been active in reconstruction and other humanitarian projects. After his European tour, he had been scheduled to perform in New Orleans on December 8 at a charity benefit with Paul Simon against homelessness and hunger.
US President Barack Obama recognized his contributions both to music and development when he presented him with the National Medal of the Arts in 2013.
“After his hometown was battered by Katrina and Allen was forced to evacuate, he did something even more important for his city — he went back. And since then, Allen has devoted his musical talent to lifting up and building up a city,” Obama said.
In an interview at the time with The Wall Street Journal, Toussaint said he could not quite believe what he had achieved over the years.
“On my 14th birthday... for whatever reason, I said to myself, ‘I’m 14 and every 10 years I’m going to check back with this 14-year-old and tell him how I’m doing’,” he said.
“I have no idea how I came up with that, but from then on I had those chats. They don’t last long,” he said.
“I often say how surprised I am at how far I’ve come. The 14-year-old at the piano just listens — but he always seems as surprised as I am.”