I stumbled across this NPR broadcast of one of my favorite Jazz Musicians, Mose Allison. (I mentioned Mose back in 2005) His work has just the right sort of snarky lyrics and Delta blues driven jazz piano that just works for me.
NPR on the man:
"The music of pianist, singer, and composer Mose Allison has had an influence well beyond his record sales. Known as "The William Faulkner of Jazz,"
Allison has been recording for more than 35 years and few musicians have had greater impact as a stylist or songwriter."
A few tunes off of Mose Allison’s
The Sage of Tippo’
click to play (Real Networks)
This disc pictured above right pretty much sums up the Mose attitude: Your Mind is on Vacation (but your mouth is working overtime).
Another great collection is Tell Me Something; its mostly Mose Allison covers by Van Morrison, Georgie Fame, and a few tracks even have Mose himself on ’em.
Its a good intro to Mose; The link below leads to a NPR interview around the time "Tell Me Something" came out:
Listen to a 1996 Morning Edition
interview with Mose Allison
If you want to start out, you could always go straight to the
Greatest Hits or Best ofs — they will work fine for newbies, also.
Lastly, here’s a rare video of Van Morrison and Mose Allison:
>
Sources:
Jazz Profiles from NPR Mose Allison
Ben Sidran
http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/allison.html
Mose Allison: ‘The Sage of Tippo’
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4558394
I have a 45 of “Yeh Yeh” by Georgie Fame. I bought it when I was 16.
It’s in terrible condition — got played way too often.
I’m short GOOG, Barry.
All my best.
Just love lyrics that I have to look up – how about this from “Perfect Moment”
One such perfect moment
Get you through the day
Mountain sheen ocean shine
Miocene valentine
One such perfect moment
Never twice the same
Such a perfect moment
Will keep you in the game
Looked up Miocene and got goose bumps – kinda like when I looked up “Crepuscule” in Monk’s Crepuscle with Nellie – beautiful stuff – thanks for hosting such an eclectic site, Barry.
Mose writes great lyrics, plays like an angel, and has had such a long career. I hope those who don’t know him will give a listen.
i bought ‘your mind is on vacation’ on vinyl lp at a flea market but it has been towards the bottom of my listening stack. i will move it up and check it out. as a huge jazz fan and an independent record label owner, i’m trying to point people towards new jazz by musicians in their prime now so this music can continue. if people want some lyrical sax playing over thick rhythm you should check out the self-titled disc ‘fly’ (released on savoy, 2004).
mark turner is the sax player on this disc, and he is really overlooked. the rhythm section is even better. i have no connections to this recording, label or musicians, i’m just trying to push jazz up.
Check out Mose’s Web Site at:
http://www.moseallison.net