Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint:The River in Reverse

[KiwiCoromandel]

Since his 1979 soul set, Get Happy!!, it's been obvious Elvis Costello has soaked himself in the grooves of the American South, including being an occasional collaborator of New Orleans's doyen of soul and funk, writer-producer-pianist Allen Toussaint. Another relevant "soaking" for this album came via the winds and floods that accompanied Hurricane Katrina and destroyed New Orleans.

The River in Reverse's mixture of anger and buoyant defiance (in Toussaint oldies and new, co-written songs) is a reaction to the destruction and the government incompetence that followed. The anger is, however, channelled into some swinging music in which Toussaint's signature horns punctuate the feel playing of Costello's regular band, the Imposters.

With some mixed vocals and a sense of strain at times, this isn't as successful an album as it promised, but it does shake your tree plenty of times.

source:AP