Preview
MOSE ALLISON
Saturday, October 25
Brew Brothers
After more than 50 years in the music business you might think that musician Mose Allison would be slowing down. After all, by the time most people reach 75 years of age, work is just a distant memory. But not in Allison’s case – he still plays more than 100 gigs a year across the world, including three in Alberta this month.
"It all depends on my health and my jobs," says Allison during a phone interview from his home on Long Island, New York.
As far as his health goes, the septuagenarian says he’s in good shape and the jobs just keep coming. Not surprising since the man is known as a multi-talented vocalist, pianist and songwriter whose songs have been recorded by The Who, The Clash, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt.
Born outside of Tippo, Mississippi – or as he says, at the "crossroads and a cotton gin" – Allison discovered his gift for music early on. At age five he was given piano lessons, but that quickly came to an end in typical Allison fashion.
"(When) I found out I could play by ear I quit the lessons," he says.
Continuing to hone his skills, Allison played in several local R and B bands during his teen years, building a reputation as a showman. His trio played across the Southern U.S. and the experience forever connected him to that region of the world. Away from any major recording centres, Allison was steeped in the traditions of the Mississippi Delta Blues, and was nurtured by the unique mix of cultural influences in the South.
"My internal dialogue is like my ancestors," he says. "Rural is different than urban."
It wasn’t long before the budding artist was picking up songs from other Southerners – performers such as Arkansas-born saxophonist-vocalist Louis Jordan, who Allison first heard on a gas station jukebox. Jordan (whose music has been described as a cross between big band and rhythm and blues) would have a major influence on Allison’s developing style as a performer.
Continuing to hone his skills, Allison played in several local R and B bands during his teen years, building a reputation as a showman.
"We would go wherever we would be heard," he says.
In the 1940s, he joined the U.S. Army and was stationed with the Mountain Division in Colorado before Uncle Sam noticed Allison’s talent and enlisted him to play trumpet for one of the army’s show bands. Following his stint in the army, Allison returned to the Southern U.S. to study at Louisiana State University, earning a degree in English and philosophy.
Eventually the allure of the jazz movement in New York City during the 1950s captured Allison’s attention. Relocating to the Big Apple in 1956, he quickly established his reputation as an accomplished sideman playing with such jazz luminaries as Zoots Sims, Chet Baker and Stan Getz.
It was also during this period that he began to get more attention for his own brand of music, which combines his skill on the piano with a sharp wit and humorous turn of phrase, earning him the nickname "the William Faulkner of jazz."
Putting out his debut record in 1957 (Back Country Suite), Allison was first marketed as a pop musician and later as a jazz artist. Neither label fit as he continued a cross-pollination of musical genres that never allowed for easy packaging by the record companies that eagerly signed him.
In spite of his eclecticism, Allison has always earned a loyal following that appreciates his southern-influenced blues-jazz sound together with his sometimes sardonic observations about the human condition – a characterization that Allison refutes.
"I was considered a downer and a cynic," he says. "They didn’t get the Mississippian thing – I thought I was being funny all along."
One of his biggest fans and promoters has been Van Morrison, who in 1996 released the tribute album Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison. The recording has 13 tracks including "Perfect Moment," which features the vocals of Morrison and Allison.
Although Allison’s lyrics have become legendary within the music business, widespread fame has eluded him. It’s a fact that may have made others bitter, but not the man who, after a half a century of performing as a professional musician, still has a passion to play.
"After a show one night a lady approached me and said, ‘What I like about your work is the joy in it,’" says Allison. "That was great, you know – it swings." |
Copyright ©2003 FFWD. All rights reserved.