Allen Toussaint at the piano

The words seem strange as I type them, but Sunday you could really catch some of the best this festival has to offer without moving from the Acura stage. Example: Allen Toussaint sat himself at the piano and belted out a string of classics from the nearly endless collection of songs he wrote, including some great Lee Dorsey and Ernie K-Doe tunes.

Despite being a septuagenarian, Toussaint's voice and performance were more or less indistinguishable from his solo albums in the 1970s. I guess, given his credentials, I shouldn't too surprised that he opened with a song he penned specifically for that day, but I can't think of any other artists who paid such a direct tribute to the 40th anniversary of this festival.

There was still a little too much going on for me to sit completely still, so I second-lined over to the Blues Tent to catch drummer Cedric Burnside and guitarist Lightnin' Malcolm. While their sound wasn't too far removed from R.L. Burnside's cool but crunchy style, it was nice to catch a dedication to the late great, with Cedric taking vocals to honor his grandfather.

Cedric Burnside