A reluctant performer for most of his career, Toussaint opened up in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Displaced from his home and studio, Toussaint decamped for New York City, at one point performing weekly at Joe’s Pub. This set, recorded there in 2009, finds the man stripped back to basic building blocks: his smooth, ageless voice and his piano. The early ‘70s swagger of “Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further” gets stripped down and is all the more poignant for it. His way with the ivories is living history, alighting on ragtime, stride, and boogie-woogie, but wholly in the present, wowing a 21st century crowd.

– Andy Beta