Allen Toussaint, a revered musician and songwriter that influenced a wide range of musical artists and was a great ambassador for the music of the American South, passed away at 77 on Monday (11/9) in Madrid, Spain, where he had been on tour.   New Orleans based until Hurricane Katrina drove him north, Toussaint maintained an active schedule of writing, producing and performing right to the end of his life and a career that included collaborations with an impressively diverse group of musicians.  As a house producer in the early 1960's for Mint Records, Toussaint had a hand in a slew of R&B songs, foremost among them Lee Dorsey's Ya Ya and Mother In Law from Ernie K-Doe.  The Rolling Stones had Toussaint on their radar early and recorded his song Fortune Teller. He branched out in the 70's when his notoriety attracted Paul McCartney, Paul Simon to his Sea-Saint Studios to record and brought his songs to a new crop of artists, including Elvis Costello, Littel Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, Warren Zevon and Robert Palmer.

NYTimes.com