Allen Toussaint's residency at New York's Village Vanguard with The Bright Mississippi band—Don Byron on clarinet, Christian Scott on trumpet, Mark Ribot on guitar, David Pilch on bass, and Jay Bellerose on drums, with a little help from Joe Henry, the producer of the album The Bright Mississippi—continues through Sunday.

New York Times music critic Jon Pareles, in his review of Tuesday's residency opener, which included a cameo from Elvis Costello, writes of the eclectic set: "No matter what the source, the rendition was poised and light-fingered, without an unconsidered note. And somehow New Orleans was in every phrase, with hints of swing, of humor, of sly sensuality ... Mr. Toussaint has the two-fisted, rippling vocabulary of the city’s piano legacy, but he uses it in dapper ways."

Pareles concludes: "It wasn’t a re-creation of old New Orleans music but a reverie on a New Orleans heritage: a lifetime of memories refined by a genteel sensibility that finds the elegance in the blues."

Read the complete review at nytimes.com.

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Last night's early set was broadcast live on NPR member station WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM and online at npr.org, where the entire concert is streaming online now.

NPR's Bob Boilen previewed the show yesterday on the All Songs Considered blog, writing, "If you listen to one jazz concert this year, tonight is your night ... Toussaint has put together a band that includes my favorite clarinet player (Don Byron), my favorite drummer (Jay Bellerose) and the brilliant guitarist Marc Ribot. These guys play all styles of music, and bring something new to whichever form they explore."

Boilen goes on to say that Toussaint and his music are sure to appeal both to an audience beyond just jazz aficionados: "This show is about the popular side of jazz. There is rich history in the music, but it won't feel like a history lesson: It's jazz from the '20s to the '60s, played brilliantly by an R&B piano player steeped in pop music, with a great ear and a creative soul."

Read more from Boilen on the All Songs Considered blog at npr.org/blogs.

His colleagues at npr.org and WGBO say that Toussaint's Nonesuch solo debut, The Bright Mississippi, "is full of gentle and warmly familiar sounds, subtly reconfigured ... It's all dangling with elegant, tactful production at every turn (courtesy of Joe Henry, himself a talented producer-musician)."

Of the live set in the intimate space of the Vanguard, the site reports, "The finely-tuned sonics of the record translated convincingly into rollicking romps and unfussy ballads on stage. Behind Toussaint's virtuosic piano were a cast of musicians largely known for their agnostic approaches to genre." Ultimately, Toussaint turned "his stage persona toward an intimate, graceful and eminently enjoyable jazz show."

Read more and listen to Wednesday night's set from Toussaint and The Bright Mississippi band at npr.org.

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All About Jazz writer Joel Roberts says "Toussaint's first solo effort in more than a decade is a heartfelt tribute to his hometown of New Orleans and the classic jazz on which he grew up."

And on that note, Keith Spera, the music writer for New Orleans' Times-Picayune, the hometown paper for both Toussaint and the music featured on the new record, says The Bright Mississippi is "as New Orleans as the wrought iron balconies of the French Quarter, similarly intricate and sturdy, and equally impressive up close or at a distance." After a track-by-track break-down of the record, Spera concludes that for Toussaint, "The Bright Mississippi is a highlight of an already remarkable career."

Read the complete review at blog.nola.com.