Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Luther Allison: I Owe It All To You
Luther Allison: I Owe It All To You
ByThe program includes four of Allison's captivating compositions and songs by four Memphis, Tennessee piano masters, Richard Rogers and Stevie Wonder, all of which work effectively by themselves and serve as ideal launch pads for the trio's expeditions. Harold Mabern's "There But For The Grace Of..." sounds hearty, tuneful and plain-spoken, filled with brief eruptions of notes girded by one of the themes. Nothing feels settled or pat about Allison's meaty and soulful "The Things We Used To Say" or the genial permutations of "I Owe It All To You."
Allison's improvisational prowess is sufficiently exciting to engage a casual listener's attention and contains enough intriguing details, form and surprises to please an aficionado. During "Lu's Blues," for example, chords struck in the lower end of the keyboard intermittently growl, complain and humph. Throughout most of his solos, long, incisive single-note runs stick around long enough to establish continuity and create expectations for more of the same before they are abandonedor evolvein favor of chordal combinations of varying length and intensity. (Conversely, chords often inspire an eruption of single-note lines.) Various blues and soul inflections and phrasesthe record's not-so-secret ingredientare also essential in making his improvisations cohere. The singles and chords juxtapositions do not feel contrived or necessarily even sequential; instead, it is a thrill to hear Allison fly by the seat of his pants, take risks and, somehow, make it all work.
Allison's audacious arrangement of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" simultaneously dissects and honors Richard Rogers's song from 1939 in an electrifying journey of less than six minutes. Incorporating solo piano and the trio, he injects the tune with funk and swing gradations tied together by a repetitive, thunderous line executed with both hands that, somehow, manages to avoid overwhelming the track's more reflective moments. Allison's aversion to playing things safe is apparent throughout, particularly during a portion of the solo in which a stubborn chordal interlude goes down a rabbit hole, only to emerge as if nothing unusual happened.
The proof that Luther Allison is the genuine article lies in the ten tracks of I Owe It All To You. His career as a recording artist is off to a flying start.
Track Listing
I Owe It All To You; Until I See You Again; Say Dr. J; Knocks Me Off My Feet; I Didn’t Know What Time It Was; There But For The Grace Of…; The Things We Used To Say; New York; From Day To Day; Lu's Blues.
Personnel
Album information
Title: I Owe It All To You | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Posi-Tone Records
Tags
Comments
PREVIOUS / NEXT
Luther Allison Concerts
Support All About Jazz
