Mose Allison - On Prestige '2024

Tracks list

Tracklist:

1. Lost Mind (03:30)
2. The Seventh Son (02:37)
3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (02:46)
4. Creek Bank (04:34)
5. Eyesight To The Blind (01:40)
6. Mojo Woman (04:05)
7. Parchman Farm (03:17)
8. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me (03:10)
9. Blueberry Hill (02:54)
10. Scamper (02:16)
11. Young Man's Blues (01:23)
12. In Salah (03:48)
13. Crespuscular Air (03:46)
14. I Got A Right To Cry (Remastered) (02:49)
15. You Belong To Me (Remastered) (04:21)
16. One Room Country Shack (02:59)
17. Old Devil Moon (Remastered) (05:08)
18. Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand (03:13)
19. I Hadn't Anyone Till You (02:30)
20. That's All Right (02:25)
21. Warm Night (01:47)
22. Trouble In Mind (03:13)
23. If You Live (02:29)
24. Highway 49 (01:40)


 moreBorn on his grandfather's farm in Tippo, Mississippi in 1927, he
discovered he could play the piano by ear at age five and began figuring out
blues and boogie woogie tunes he heard on the local jukebox. In high school he
listened to the music of Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Louis
Jordan, and Nat King Cole. He played trumpet in marching and dance bands and
began writing his own songs. He had easy access to a radio and thus the music of
Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Meade "Lux" Lewis. Allison also credited "the
Poet Laureate of the Blues," songwriter Percy Mayfield, as a major inspiration
on his composing.

After a year at Ole Miss, he joined the Army in l946. Allison played in the Army
Band in Colorado Springs and performed with small groups at NCO and Officer's
clubs. Returning to university, he joined the dance band as arranger, pianist,
and trumpeter, then left to form his own trio. He met his future wife Audre in
1949 (they were together until his death 65 years later) and started a family.
He began working the road with a trio. After a year of traveling, Allison
married and finished college at Louisiana State University in 1952 with a B.A.
in English and Philosophy. After graduating, he returned to the road.

Allison worked nightclubs across the Southeast and West, blending the influences
of the raw Delta blues of his childhood with the modern jazz piano innovations
of John Lewis, Thelonious Monk, and Al Haig. His vocal style was influenced by
Mayfield and jazz-blues singer Charles Brown.

He arrived in New York in 1956, where he received encouragement, work, and even
a recording date as a sideman for saxophonist Al Cohn. In 1957 he secured his
own recording contract with Prestige Records. His debut outing, Back Country
Suite in 1958, was a collection of self-composed, largely instrumental pieces
evoking his impressions of the Mississippi Delta and a handful of jazz
standards; it was released to unanimous critical acclaim and has since become a
classic, largely due to the appearance of the song "Back Country Suite: Blues,"
eventually known as "Young Man Blues." In addition to leading his own trio,
Allison worked live and in the studio with jazz greats Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and
Gerry Mulligan.

Allison released three albums in 1958, Young Man Mose, Creek Bank, and Local
Color (the last was comprised, almost exclusively, of his own songs, including
the now-standard "Parchman Farm"). After releasing 1959's Autumn Songs he left
the label to sign with Columbia, where he released Transfiguration of Hiram
Brown in 1959, which featured an eight-part vocal and instrumental suite
combining Delta blues and dazzling hard bop originals over a handful of
standards. 1960's I Love the Life I Live featured him leading three rhythm
sections, including one with bassist Henry Grimes and drummer Paul Motian. His
final album for Columbia appeared on its Epic imprint: 1961's Takes to the Hills
included new compositions as well as unissued material from his previous two
outings.

In mid-1961, Allison was invited to a meeting with Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic
Records; after just ten minutes, he signed a recording contract. His label
debut, 1962's I Don't Worry About a Thing, featured him leading a trio with
longtime bassist Addison Farmer and drummer Osie Johnson. The set's first three
songs -- the title number, "It Didn't Turn Out That Way," and especially "Your
Mind Is on Vacation" became some of his most covered tunes. His relationship
with Ertegun was one Allison prized; he felt as if he had encountered a record
business executive who got what he was trying to do. For his second album on
Atlantic, Swingin' Machine, he led a quintet that included tenor saxophonist Jim
Reider and trombonist Jimmy Knepper, with Frankie Dunlop replacing Johnson. A
steady string of well-received trio outings arrived over the next few years
including 1964's The Word from Mose 1965's Wild Man on the Loose and Mose
Alive!, and 1968's I've Been Doin' Some Thinkin', his first-self-produced
outing. The latter set contained the Allison classics "Your Molecular Structure"
and "Everybody's Crying Mercy," tempered by his beautiful, nearly iconic
rendition of Jimmie Davis' "You Are My Sunshine." In 1970 he released Hello
There, Universe, an ambitious outing produced by Joel Dorn that featured
expanded arrangements and personnel for tunes including the title cut, "Monsters
of the Id, "Wild Man on the Loose," and "I'm Smashed." Some of his sidemen on
the date included saxophonists Joe Henderson, Joe Farrell, Pepper Adams, and
Seldon Powell.

Allison spent much of his tenure at Atlantic supervised and produced personally
by Ertegun, whom he considered a good friend. After the company saw substantial
growth during the 1960s due to its many R&B and rock successes, Ertegun's
attention was diverted from their direct working relationship. Allison took it
in stride for a time, working with Dorn on 1971's stellar Western Man (his first
to employ a Fender Rhodes piano on some selections) leading a rhythm section
that included electric bassist Chuck Rainey and soon-to-be Mahavishnu Orchestra
drummer Billy Cobham. Allison self-produced the widely acclaimed 1972 live
outing Mose in Your Ear. Already discouraged due to the demise of his working
partnership with Ertegun, he toured almost constantly from 1973 to 1975. His
last album for the label was 1976's Your Mind Is on Vacation. It included
re-recordings of many of his best-known tunes with a top-shelf cast of players
that included drummer Jerry Granelli and bassist Jack Hannah, saxophonists Al
Cohn, Joe Farrell, and David Sanborn.

Allison began spending more time on the road playing in Europe and Japan.
Overseas he was a main-stage festival staple and could headline larger clubs.
Without a label, he didn't record for another six years.

He signed with Bruce Lundvall's Elektra Musician subsidiary in 1982, and issued
Middle Class White Boy, for which he received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz
Vocal Performance, Male. Produced by Esmond Edwards, the 11-cut set featured
Allison leading a quintet that included Farrell and guitarist Phil Upchurch in a
program of stellar new originals including the title track and "How Does It Feel
(To Be Good Looking)," as well as blues and jazz standards. While it drew mixed
reviews in the States, it charted overseas. He followed a year later with
Lessons in Living, cut at the Montreux Jazz Festival with a band that included
saxophonist Lou Donaldson, bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Gale, and Cobham
on drums.

Allison signed with Blue Note for 1987's Ever Since the World Ended. The first
of several albums produced by Ben Sidran, the lineup that selectively included
alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe and guitarist Kenny Burrell, eight of its 12
tracks were originals. It peaked at number three on the jazz albums chart and
earned Allison another Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male.
While at Blue Note, Allison cut some of the most creative material in his
career. This was in large part due to his partnership with Sidran. 1990's My
Backyard included some of his best later songs -- "Ever Since I Stole the
Blues," and "Stranger in My Home Town" -- and the New Orleans second-line
R&B-inspired "Big Brother." For 1994's The Earth Wants You, Sidran and Allison
hired a stellar cast of sidemen. In addition to a reunion with drummer Paul
Motian, the players included saxophonists Joe Lovano (playing alto) and Bob
Malach, guitarist John Scofield, trumpeter Randy Brecker, and conguero Ray
Mantilla. Also in 1994, Rhino Records released the box set Allison Wonderland,
an anthology that focused on his Atlantic sides.

In 1996, Van Morrison released Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison
co-billed to collaborators Georgie Fame, Sidran, and Allison himself, who
appeared on piano and in vocal duets with Morrison on the tracks "I Don't Want
Much" and "Perfect Moment." All of its performances were cut live in one or two
takes. The album peaked at the top of the jazz albums charts. His final studio
date for the label was 1998's Gimcracks and Gewgaws. Produced by Sidran, the
acclaimed 14-track collection offered fine new originals including the ballad
"Texana," "What Will It Take (To Put You in the Casket), and "Cruise Control,"
performed by a lineup that included Motian, guitarist Russell Malone, bassist
Ratzo Harris, and saxophonist Mark Shim.

In 2001, Blue Note released two volumes of The Mose Chronicles: Live in London.
These high-energy outings featuring a rhythm section with bassist Roy Babbington
and drummer Mark Taylor (the second added guitarist Jim Mullen) offered truly
dazzling piano work from Allison, who had developed his signature bop, blues,
and swing style while incorporating influences from 20th century classical
composers such as Bartok and Stravinsky. That said, he made it all groove. Both
albums won Grammy nods for Best Jazz Vocal Album. In 2005, the BBC presented
director Paul Bernays' acclaimed documentary Mose Allison: Ever Since I Stole
the Blues. In 2008, Louisiana State University bestowed Allison with an Honorary
Doctorate of Humane Letters.

Producer Joe Henry coaxed Allison back into the studio to record The Way of the
World for Anti. It was his first studio album in a dozen years, and proved to be
his last. The set reached number three on the jazz albums chart and was followed
by a tour. Allison retired from performing in 2012, and in 2013 was granted the
distinction of NEA Jazz Master. He died at his home on Hilton Head Island,
England's Strawberry label issued the deluxe six-disc box setComplete
Atlantic/Elektra Albums 1962-1983; it contained all 12 albums he released on
those labels.

Biography by Thom Jurek
Mose Allison - The Complete Atlantic / Elektra Albums 1962-1983



Mose Allison - On Prestige.rar -  429.1 MB

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