Mose Allison

Mose Allison is one of the great American songwriters. By his own estimate, he’s written over 150 songs, several of which have been covered by such pop artists as Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Tracy Nelson, the Who, the Yardbirds, Elvis Costello and Merlin Factor. And while wide-scale attention has eluded the 73-year-old jazz pianist/singer, Allison continues to perform 125 gigs a year, including two annual three-week stints at The Pizza Express in London—which is where he and his trio of bassist Roy Babbington and drummer Mark Taylor were captured live for The Mose Chronicles: Live in London, Volume 1. Recorded in January 2000, the album is produced by longtime associate Ben Sidran who has not only piloted all of Allison’s Blue Note recordings but also paid tribute to him with Morrison and Georgie Fame on the 1996 CD "Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison".

The Mississippi-born Allison celebrated his 50th anniversary of performing last year. His first gig was playing six nights a week at a club in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1950. Influenced by a range of jazz musicians including Nat Cole, Bud Powell, John Lewis and Al Haig, Allison moved to New York in 1956 and found work in the bands of such jazz artists as Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Gerry Mulligan before launching his own trio in the late '50s. With swinging piano lines reminiscent of Lester Young’s saxophone style and down-home lyrics teeming with irony and wisdom, Allison recorded his cabaret-from-the-backwoods brand of folky jazz for several major labels.

Regarding his lyrics, Allison says, "People call me a cynic, but really my songs are almost always jokes. The idea of the ironic couplet appeals to me. That’s from my childhood in Mississippi, where I also learned the value of exaggeration and understatement. People try to take my songs too literally when all I’m doing is playing around with implied satirical notions."

Given his huge repertoire of songs, Allison says that these days he only plays live those tunes that still have relevance. "I write all my songs with the intention of lasting. But some are no longer pertinent to me, such as my cottonsack songs that were inspired by growing up in the rural South. I've been told that my other songs are really holding up. I hope they’re right.”

Downloads

> Biography (pdf)
> Quotes (pdf)
> Interview (pdf)
> Discography (pdf)
> Song Listing (pdf)
> Songs Covered By (pdf)

 Mose interviewed on NPR on March 23, 2010

Mose Allison's new CD at Anti Records (release 3/10)

Mose Allison's "Ever_Since_The_World_Ended" (mp3)

Mose Allison's "Everybodys Cryin Mercy" (mp3)

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