Allen Toussaint: The Collection

BY THE TIME Allen Toussaint released his first Warner Bros. album, Life, Love And Motion, in 1972, it was already impossible to look at New Orleans music since 1960 without running head-on into his formidable legacy as producer, arranger, songwriter, studio bandleader and occasional performer. The Toussaint touch had laid an indelible stamp on the modern Crescent City R&B sound, as popularized by a proverbial cast of thousands (well, dozens anyway) including Lee Dorsey, The Meters, Irma Thomas, Benny Spellman, Ernie K-Doe, Chris Kenner, Betty Harris, Dr. John and Art & Aaron Neville.