14/10/2022
About ALLEN TOUSSAINT, I wanted to share 2 stories from David Simon (creator of the HBO series Tremé). He was with Allen Toussaint, Elvis Costello and more Tremé cast and crew at Piety Street Studio:
"I sat behind Mr. Toussaint in the control booth while he rehearsed his hand-picked New Orleans horn section on the lines of “Tears, Tears and More Tears.”
This collective, an all-star r***e of the city’s best brass players, also included one Wendell Pierce, who was, as a “Treme” actor, pretending to be a part of that august group. Mr. Pierce, who had been trying to learn some of the trombone he was pretending to play, had it in mind to contribute in some small, personal way to the musical moment. Quietly, he slipped off the bone’s blocked mouthpiece and put in the real one, and then, as Mr. Toussaint talked about unrelated matters with Mr. Costello, scarcely paying attention to the rehearsal, Mr. Pierce attempted to add a few notes to the arrangement.
Mr. Toussaint wheeled. “What was that?” he inquired, hitting the control room button.
The horn men stopped. All of them knew, but none of them felt an immediate need to give up the imposter, so Mr. Toussaint asked each to play his line individually, nodding softly at the notes. And then, finally: “Wendell? Did you play something?” “I, um, I might have let a few notes go.” “Wendell,” said Mr. Toussaint quietly, "Please don't."
And later that evening, there came an even more wonderful moment when our film director, Jim McKay, attempted to call action to a scene not merely by rolling speed on sound and calling camera and action, but by actually — I kid you not — attempting to count down Mr. Toussaint’s band, as if he were Lawrence Welk coming out of a commercial break: “And-ah-one, and-ah-two, and-ah…” The musicians stared at him blankly, fixed and immobile. Quietly, at the piano, Mr. Toussaint gave a small cough to break the stillness. “Sorry about that,” Mr. Toussaint said. “Some sheep only follow one shepherd.” See less
