Allen Toussaint

I never planned on being a live performer. My whole forte was about being in the studio, producing, playing the piano on…

— Allen Toussaint

My music is homegrown from the garden of New Orleans. Music is everything to me short of breathing. Music also has a…

— Allen Toussaint

Whenever I wrote songs - particularly back then - it would always be for a particular artist.

— Allen Toussaint

To play with a band all of the time, just about nightly, was good for me because I wrote lots of arrangements…

— Allen Toussaint

The mother-in-laws themselves weren't natural jokes but most comedians used to use that.

— Allen Toussaint

As an early child, I tried to play every kind of music that I heard. I thought everyone was doing that.

— Allen Toussaint

And do respect the women of the world; remember you all had mothers.

— Allen Toussaint

To get to New Orleans you don't pass through anywhere else. That geographical location, being aloof, lets it hold onto the ritual…

— Allen Toussaint

To travel and to get around different places, especially in station wagons, you could really see America.

— Allen Toussaint

As a young child, I thought that all pianists played everything. I mean, I thought anything on piano - any piano music,…

— Allen Toussaint

When you're playing live, those people who you're trying to please and reach, they're right there giving you feedback. And you don't…

— Allen Toussaint