R.I.P. Allen Touissant. The key figure in New Orleans r&b passed away during a tour in Spain on Monday, November 9. Touissant performed regularly from the nineties onwards, but is mostly known as an outstanding, prolific songwriter. His tunes were written for and/or covered by Ernie K. Doe (A Certain Girl), Lee Dorsey (Working In A Coalmine), The Meters (Ride Your Pony), The Rolling Stones (Fortune Teller), Q65 (Get Out My Life, Woman), The Band (Holy Cow), Bonnie Raitt (What Is Succes), Trombone Shorty (On Your Way Down) and many, many others. In the late sixties, jazz musicians looking for a commercial break also found their way to Touissant’s catalogue. For instance, Lou Donaldson and Grassella Oliphant. Great, greasy takes on Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky and Get Out My Life, Woman.
Talkin’ about
Miles Ahead
Eagerly awaiting the airing in Europe of Don Cheadle’s biopic of Miles Davis, Miles Ahead. Don Cheadle’s pet project (He’s both director and leading actor) will undoubtly trouble purists. I’ve heard a few complaints already. Miles Ahead allegedly leaves out a few crucial periods in Miles Davis’s life, like his cooperation with Gil Evans and the release of Bitches Brew. Do I care? Hardly. I just hope Don Cheadle doesn’t handle trumpet and jazz slang as clumsily as actors usually do. I also hope Miles Davis isn’t portrayed as a black militant raving about racist whiteys, or at least if so, that it becomes clear that when Miles Davis did, it was just a pose. The point is, it’s great that there is a movie about Miles Davis. Will Miles Ahead be in the same league of similar movie biopics as Ray (2004, Ray Charles) or I Walk The Line (2005, Johnny Cash)? Here’s a teaser: