Pro-Shot Video Of Allen Toussaint With Funky Meters In New Orleans

On October 17 Allen Toussaint teamed with the funky METERS for a collaboration at the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival. It wound up being Toussaint’s final performance in his hometown of New Orleans as Allen died of a heart attack earlier this week while on tour in Spain.

Professionally-shot footage of Allen Toussaint performing his own “Ride Your Pony” at the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival has been shared on YouTube via the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival’s channel. Take a look:

Meters bassist George Porter Jr., who both introduces and performs with Toussaint in the video above, shared an emotional tribute to Allen in the hours after news of his death was reported:

Today’s news of Allen Toussaint’s passing while he was on tour in another place other then home shakes me to the core and saddens me very much. We have chosen to live a life we love and for some reason want to do it for more than the money. We do it really for the love we get from the world and the smiles on the faces of people when we play our songs. Musicians that live on the road do have some fears, that we may not get back home safe, being away from home when our family needs us or being on the road alone when sad things happen. The two people I have loved longest in my life passed away while I was not home almost a year apart. Losing my Brother and my mother when I was not home was terribly hard. Now I have once again lost someone I care about while I am sitting alone in a hotel room. I still need to get through the flights home before I can comfort my wife and grieve my friend.

Still I am going to keep doing what I do, maybe that is crazy but it is what I love. Allen would expect no less, he lived and loved this life too for the same reason, the happiness music can bring. Todays News broke my heart, it is a real shock. When I played with AT at this years Blues & BBQ I told him I needed him to help me with some music that I have run into a brick wall with, he smiled and said send it to me. I got busy and did not send it, I always thought there was time, Allen seemed so happy and healthy. So sudden it is hard to believe. Thank You Allen Toussaint for the music that you gave me a chance to play with you, as well as the music that I have come to play because of what I learned from seeing up front and close how you could get the best out of an artist. You could get them to find stuff in themselves that they didn’t know was there. You inspired me in so many ways. Your talent as a musician and a producer has been a major role model in how I approach my own music and how I interact with other musicians on stage and in the studio. Allen, Your music will live on and your teaching will continue to inspire. You are a true legend and have left a legacy like no other. gpjr