Toussaint, Nico Wayne
With Love From Clarksdale
Go where the action is! Memphis is at the center of the United States, at the crossroads of black American music. And Clarksdale is there, like a ghost town that never woke up from its past, 60 miles further south in the state of Mississippi, on the road to Louisiana and New Orleans. That's where I, Nico Wayne Toussaint, chose to live a studious, spiritual and musical retreat, during the beautiful cotton harvest season, when temperatures hover around 30 degrees but autumn is already upon us, and the fields are white with cotton blossom as far as the eye can see. I organized my retreat in a tin and plank houseboat on the side of a farm road, overlooking this opaline ocean. It was there, with my guitars and harmonicas, that I set to work, in context, the repertoire of Mississippi legends RL Burnside, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Fred Mc Dowell... And the city's clubs, like the sidewalks of New Orleans, became my playground and my place of public exercise. 8 weeks at this pace enabled me to make some superb encounters, settle into a daily routine, play a lot, write songs and find a new sound. It was all this experience that I brought back to France, and which I infused into the rehearsal sessions for our forthcoming album. The Clarksdale "juke joint" sound I wanted to imprint on the record quickly required the contribution of brass instruments I'd also heard between New Orleans and Memphis. That was all it took to summon the Big Band version of my full band, the ensemble of musicians with whom I had already produced the tribute to James Cotton in 2017. Our trumpeter Pascal Drapeau signed off on the brass arrangements, and the sound of this new album, made up of 100% original tracks, has taken shape, combining the rhythmic pulse of Mississippi clubs with the dynamic riffs of Memphis brass."From Clarksdale With Love" is a loving postcard I'm sending you from the land of the blues, like an invitation to take a ride with me on the roads of Mississippi. All aboard!