Mavis Staples, Allen Toussaint give soul to the Toronto Jazz Festival

Mavis Staples, Colin James

I went last night to the Main Stage theatre at Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto City Hall to see black music legends Mavis Staples and Allen Toussaint as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival. Allen Toussaint kicked off the show with a trip down memory lane through his endless catalog of hits including Working In A Coal Mine and Southern Nights. He joked frequently how he wrote songs for himself and when they didn't sell, other artists would take his songs and turn them into million sellers as Glen Campbell did with Southern Nights. His latest CD A Bright Mississippi is more of a jazz album so he performed a couple of tracks from that CD. Other than the sax player Breeze, he didn't identify the musicians. But the band worked very well. Allen Toussaint is a tremendous pianist and carries himself with the easygoing demeanor of a man who clearly understands his legendary status in musical history. Professor Longhair would have been proud. After the intermission, Mavis Staples and her band gave a gospel music and civil rights history lesson. Mavis spoke several times about her legendary father Pops Staples and told the story about how Pops became friends with Dr. Martin Luther King. The songs performed were virtually identical to Mavis' 2008 live CD Hope at the Hideout including Eyes On The Prize, Wade In The Water and Why Am I Treated So Bad. Guitarist Rick Holmstrom also led the band on that CD. I had never heard of him before but he's from Alaska and made his name in the 90s with blues harmonica player Rod Piazza. He has recorded his own CDs but mostly plays guitar for other artists CDs. He's a great player and I can see why he is in demand. The backup singers were led by Danny Gerard. I recognized his name but I couldn't remember where I had heard him. He's from Vancouver and was the lead singer of the 70s group Skylark and they had a big hit with Wildflower. He has been a Los Angeles session singer since the mid-70s. Mavis Staples was in great voice. She ended the show with The Staples Singers classic I'll Take You There and invited Toronto guitarist Colin James to sit in. Everyone enjoyed that and went home happy. It was a great show. The pic is courtesy of Richard Budman.