Elvis Costello Working On New Album For Verve Records

Elvis Costello is preparing to head into the studio to begin work on a collaborative album with legendary New Orleans songwriter Allen Toussaint. Work is scheduled to begin over the American Thanksgiving weekend, with Joe Henry producing the album for Verve Records.

Henry compares the upcoming project with Costello's 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach, Painted From Memory. "That project was a very legitimate collaboration between the two artists," Henry told Billboard.com, "and this will feature Elvis as a singer doing both classic songs that Allen has written as well as new material." Toussaint is the author of such classics as "Workin' In A Coal Mine" and "Right Place, Wrong Time", the latter a hit for fellow New Orleans musician Dr. John.

Costello recently performed with Toussaint at a number of benefits in New York for Hurricane Katrina relief; the two had also previously worked together on some of Costello's albums from the early 80's.

"Elvis, like a lot of people, re-committed himself to the importance of the legacy of (New Orleans) music," said Henry. "I was talking to Allen about doing a solo record, and Elvis had appeared with Allen on stage at various benefits in New York, and the wheels were turning."

"Elvis and I talked off and on about working together," continued Henry. "He's been a big booster of I Believe to My Soul (a multi-artist project that Henry helmed) and he's a big a Bettye LaVette fan (another artist with whom Henry has recently worked). After the hurricane, it brought home to him how significant that relationship with Allen was."

A release date for the upcoming album has not yet been set.