{"id":3306,"date":"2011-08-10T00:34:57","date_gmt":"2011-08-10T07:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3306"},"modified":"2011-08-10T00:34:57","modified_gmt":"2011-08-10T07:34:57","slug":"mose-allison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/mose-allison\/","title":{"rendered":"MOSE ALLISON"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

MOSE ALLISON<\/h1>\n

A jazz and blues veteran changes things up\u2014just a little<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It makes perfect sense that The Way of the World<\/em>, Mose Allison\u2019s first new studio album in 12 years, is released on the Anti- label. After all, he has always been an anti- kind of artist: anti-pigeonholing, anti-convention, anti-mainstream. His idiosyncratic songcraft and performance style may have kept Allison from reaching the level of fame enjoyed by many of his peers over the years, but it\u2019s that sense of his own identity that has kept him as vibrant and vital today as when he released his debut, Back Country Suite<\/em>,\u00a0in 1957.<\/p>\n

The place that Allison occupies\u2014somewhere at the crossroads of jazz and blues\u2014is one that has been visited by dozens of artists eager to cover his compositions since the \u201960s, among them the Yardbirds (\u201cI\u2019m Not Talking\u201d), Bonnie Raitt (\u201cEverybody\u2019s Cryin\u2019 Mercy\u201d), the Clash (\u201cLook Here\u201d) and the Who, who raged through Allison\u2019s \u201cYoung Man Blues\u201d on their 1970 Live at Leeds <\/em>album.<\/p>\n

Allison\u2019s own piano skills, sardonic lyrics, easygoing vocals and astute outlook are what inspired producer Joe Henry to spend a few years trying to convince him to return to recording. \u201cHe wanted to record me, and I didn\u2019t take it seriously,\u201d says Allison, 82, from his home in South Carolina. \u201cBut he called me several times, so I finally decided why not? He has a great reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A mix of original songs and well-chosen covers, The Way of the World <\/em>will sound instantly familiar to those who\u2019ve already been immersed in the way of Mose Allison\u2019s world. He demands that the listener pay attention, to catch not only his incisive quips but the nuances of his playing. The new album launches with \u201cMy Brain,\u201d in which Allison ruminates on the functions of the organ in question, and leaves off with \u201cThe New Situation,\u201d an old Buddy Johnson number on which the singer and his daughter Amy Allison duet for the first time. Henry\u2019s arrangements utilize a few sounds, such as mandolin and slide guitar, that are new to Allison\u2019s oeuvre. \u201cIt\u2019s completely different from what I normally do,\u201d Allison says. \u201cI usually have the rhythm section playing a different way, but I let Joe decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing that hasn\u2019t changed is his method of\u00a0composition\u2014basically, he doesn\u2019t have one. \u201cThese things just come to me,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s the best I can say. I never sat down at the piano and tried to write a song. The song forms in my mind and then I go to the piano.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t know what I do,\u201d he adds with a laugh. \u201cBut so far, so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Jeff Tamarkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOSE ALLISON A jazz and blues veteran changes things up\u2014just a little It makes perfect sense that The Way of the World, Mose Allison\u2019s first new studio album in 12 years, is released on the Anti- label. After all, he has always been an anti- kind of artist: anti-pigeonholing, anti-convention, anti-mainstream. His idiosyncratic songcraft and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[49,2367,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3308,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3306\/revisions\/3308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}