Before Hurricane Katrina, Allen Toussaint worked mostly behind the scenes. As a songwriter, producer and arranger he had shaped the sound of New Orleans music for decades — writing and producing some of the most beloved songs in American music history. Java. Fortune Teller. Working in the Coal Mine. A Certain Girl. Mother-in-Law. Lipstick Traces. It’s Raining. Songs that defined a city and a generation.
After Katrina everything changed. There was a huge surge of interest in Allen and in New Orleans music overall. Allen began performing solo with his well selected band members, travelling the world and playing prestigious locations. The man who had always preferred to stay behind the curtain was suddenly and beautifully center stage — and the world fell in love with him.
In New Orleans there was a local audio equipment company named Pyramid Productions that Allen trusted and preferred for his performances. They were sent out for every event. And fortunately I was the piano tuner of choice — sent out alongside them every time.
Sitting Down at Allen’s Piano
Each time I sat down at the piano to tune for Allen Toussaint something would happen to me. All his great hits would start playing in my head. These were my earliest musical influences — the songs I grew up with, the songs that first made me love New Orleans music. Java. Fortune Teller. Working in the Coal Mine.
I would think about Al Hirt recording Java. About Lee Dorsey recording Working in the Coal Mine. About Ernie K-Doe recording Mother-in-Law. About Irma Thomas recording It’s Raining. About Benny Spellman recording Lipstick Traces. All of those incredible artists — and behind every one of them, Allen Toussaint.
And now here I was, tuning the piano that Allen himself would play.
I endeavored every single time to produce my very best tuning. Not just a good tuning. Not just an acceptable tuning. My absolute best — so that Allen Toussaint would sit down and make beautiful sounds.
I tuned for Allen twenty-five to thirty times between Katrina and his untimely death in 2015.
The Standard
After Allen passed I found myself carrying something he had given me without ever knowing it. A standard. A measure of excellence that I had been reaching for every time I sat down at his piano.
I started calling it “The Toussaint.”
Whenever I have an important assignment — a recording session, a major performance, a once in a lifetime event — I tell myself I am going to give them The Toussaint. My absolute best. The tuning I would have been proud to give Allen himself.
Jon Batiste at Esplanade Studios
Recently I was called to tune for a three day recording session for Jon Batiste at the incredible Esplanade Studios here in New Orleans. Jon Batiste — Grammy Award winner, one of the most gifted musicians of his generation, and a proud son of New Orleans.
Before I arrived I told myself — this is a Toussaint job.
When I spoke with the record producer I told him what I was going to do. I told him I was going to give them The Toussaint.
He said “Yes! Give me The Toussaint!”
And that is what I did.
A Living Legacy
Allen Toussaint is gone but his influence lives on in ways he probably never imagined. In the musicians he inspired. In the songs that still play on New Orleans radio every day. And in a piano tuner who sits down at every important piano and hears those songs playing in his head — and reaches a little higher because of them.
That is The Toussaint.
📞 Call or text Henry at 504-669-0048 🌐 artiguepianotuning.com