Allen Toussaint, IPA: [ˈtuËseɪnt], (born January 14, 1938) is an American musician, composer and record producer.
One of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B, many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through their numerous cover versions of popular songs, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Brickyard Blues", "Get Out Of My Life Woman", "Southern Nights," "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky", "I'll Take a Melody" and "Mother-in-Law."
Toussaint grew up in a shotgun house in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town, where his mother welcomed and fed all manner of musicians as they practiced and recorded with her son, Allen Toussaint. After a lucky break at age 17 in which he stood in for Huey Smith at a performance with Earl King's band in Pritchard, Alabama, Toussaint was introduced to a group of local musicians who performed regularly at a night club on LaSalle street Uptown; they were known as the Dew Drop Set. "Java", a song by Allen Toussaint which became a hit single by Al HirtAllen Toussaint, IPA: [ˈtuËseɪnt], (born January 14, 1938) is an American musician, composer and record.