Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mose Allison: The Mose Chronicles Volume One

183

Mose Allison: The Mose Chronicles Volume One

By

View read count
Mose Allison: The Mose Chronicles Volume One
Mose Allison is amazing. The pianist/singer/songwriter has now been plying his craft for 50 years, and this first volume of The Mose Chronicles, which documents a January 2000 trio gig in London, shows no diminution of his powers.

Start with his piano playing: His ambling runs on “Entruption,” which opens the disc, have the suave rhythmic sophistication of Erik Satie’s piano music, while his harmonic palette is that of a pianist who revels in the joy of his instrument’s tone. His solo on a reharmonized “You Are My Sunshine,” which alludes to both Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, is a minor-key excursion that traverses so much territory, one is reminded of the startling George Russell/Sheila Jordan version of the tune that turned heads several decades ago. “I’m Not Talking,” a hit for the Yardbirds in the late 1960’s British Invasion glory years, shows how Allison’s deep feeling for the blues informs everything he plays, his expressive economy of means coloring the tune with hues and echoes that resonate long after its three minutes are over.

As a singer, Allison is the essence of amiability. Never possessed of a great vocal range, he learned early on that it doesn’t take technique to communicate emotion; check his version of “Since I Fell For You,” a song that has fuelled the pipes of many a pop vocalist bent on spectacularly mining its long phrases and blue notes. Allison distills its intimate love/hate message into an almost staccato reading that gets in and gets out, no questions, no apologies, no prisoners taken except the singer himself, the victim of love.

Mose the songwriter is inextricably tied to Mose the pianist and singer. Like the short stories of Raymond Carver or Joyce Carol Oates, his wry, irony-laced lyrics speak of the disillusion (“Getting’ There”), fantasy (“What’s Your Movie”) and frustrations (“If You Only Knew”) common to us all. Steeped as much in Tin Pan Alley as they are in the blues, they come vibrantly alive when his fingers hit the keys, and his voice reaches for their notes. If you don’t know the man yet, start here.

Track Listing

Excursion And Interlude; No Trouble Livin'; I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues; Everybody's Cryin' Mercy; Meet Me At No Special Place; If You Only Knew; Middle Class White Boy; You Are My Sunshine; What's Your Movie; How Much Truth; Ever Since The World Ended; You Call It Jogging; Trouble In Mind; I'm Not Talking; I Feel So Good; Since I Fell For You; The Seventh Son; Hello There Universe; What Do You Do After...; Gettin' There; I Love The Life I Live (I Live The Life I Love); Finale;

Personnel

Mose Allison
piano and vocals

Mose Allison - piano; Roy Babbington - bass; Mark Taylor - drums.

Album information

Title: The Mose Chronicles - Live In London, Volume 1 | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Blue Note

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.