For the first time in his storied career, Toussaint—composer, pianist, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee—explores the work of his New Orleans forebears on The Bright Mississippi, a soulful, live-in-the-studio jazz set, produced by Joe Henry and out today on Nonesuch.

The Washington Post's Bill Friskics-Warren calls it an "exquisite new set of Crescent City-associated jazz" that reveals Toussaint's "great flair and imagination as an interpreter and performer."

He cites the contribution of some of the stellar musicians assembled for the record, including Don Byron, clarinet; Marc Ribot, guitar; and Nicholas Payton, trumpet; writing: "The playfulness in the call-and-response on 'Singin' the Blues' is palpable, especially toward the end, when the pianist answers the trumpeter's stomp and swagger with thrilling trills and glissandos."

Friskics-Warren also notes the single-track cameos each from label mates Brad Mehldau on piano and Joshua Redman on sax, calling the latter's performance on the Ellington/Strayhorn tune "Day Dream" "gloriously languid" and one "sweetened by some of Toussaint's most elegant playing here."

Read the full review at washingtonpost.com.

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Audiophile Audition gives the album four stars. After describing Toussaint as "a national treasure and a New Orleans legend, reviewer Doug Simpson writes that with the new album, "Toussaint can now add jazz artist to the multitude of creative hats he has worn over his lengthy and prolific career." The album that resulted from the pairing of Toussaint and producer Joe Henry, he says, "is one of the finest releases of Toussaint's extensive, storied discography."

Simpson goes on to say that "highlights are many" and cites a number of them, including "a soaring duet" between Byron and Payton, on the opening track, "that is as exciting and as authentic as anything from the turn of the century," and, later, the Toussaint/Mehldau duet on "Winin' Boy Blues," which Simpson calls, "a splendid achievement that should raise anyone's appraisal of Toussaint's keyboard skill."

In addition to the track-by-track praise of the musicians' performances on the album, the reviewer concludes with kind words for its production. "Henry's dexterous producer's touch is superb," says Simpson. "Henry's ear for specifics and nuance gives the crystal-clear digital quality an intimate, analog-like affection and he avoids either an insincere historical viewpoint or an inapt contemporary outlook, choosing instead a timeless, classic-sounding perspective."

Read the complete review at audaud.com

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The Philadelphia Daily News
gives an A- to the album, on which, says the paper, Toussaint "puts a
sometimes jaunty, always sophisticated Louisiana polish on gems by
Ellington, Monk, and Bechet." There's more at philly.com.

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Creative Loafing, out of Tampa, Florida, gives the album a perfect five stars, with reviewer Eric Snider describing it as "nothing short of a revelation, an album ... that both honors and reinvents a number of songs associated with early New Orleans blues and jazz" and deeming it the "best CD I’ve heard so far this year."

The reviewer writes:

Toussaint has expert command of the Crescent City piano style handed down through the generations, and can deliver the rolling chords, blues-drenched licks, trills and cascades that are its defining elements, but he also has a songwriter’s sense of melody and a jazzbo’s feel for harmony that enables him to transcend the keyboard colloquialisms.

Read more at blogs.creativeloafing.com.

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Slant magazine gives the album four stars, with reviewer Jesse Cataldo calling it "a laidback, playful exploration in regional sound," in which Tosusaint takes these familiar tunes "and places them back into the warm bosom of a distinctly New Orleans sound, his easy touch letting them flower in the soil from which jazz first took root."

Cataldo finds the pianist expressing, on the album, "all the adroit skill of a master who knows he has no need to hurry," citing the improvisatory nature of the performances from Toussaint and his band mates. The reviewer cites their interpretation of the album's title track in particular as exemplary of the work as a whole:

Toussaint gives each of the instruments room to explore, breaking free of the structure of the song and marking it with his own distinctive stamp. It's this loose, spirited mood that makes the album's interpretations so smooth and effective. Toussaint may be looking backward instead of forward, but his free rein on these songs is transformative.

Read the complete review at slantmagazine.com.