Customer Reviews

The Best of Mose Allison

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love Mose Allison and was pleased to find so many songs that I had heard over the years on one recording. Unfortunately the quality of the recording is only fair, Allison's electric piano sounds like it is overdriving the sound board, but the music is so good that you can forgive it.

'The Best of Mose Allison' is a re-release of a vinyl album with 8 'bonus tracks' added to the CD edition of the title. But, if you buy this, you want it for all the original, classic tracks such as 'Stop This World', 'New Parchman', 'Seventh Son', and 'Your Molecular Structure'.

I confess this review is primarily for those who are not familiar with Mose Allison and not for those Jazz audiophiles who dote on great audio quality.

Allison, to me, seems like a true immortal of Jazz, as I saw him perform at a small Jazz club in Baltimore in 1970, and he is still performing today, (or at least within the last year) with about the same quality as I remember from 35 years ago.

Allison sings and accompanys himself on the piano and strikes me as the godfather of many more recent performer / composers such as Elton John and Randy Newman. He is one of the few pre-Rock era composers whose songs have been performed by some of the great Rock supergroups such as The Who. And, when you listen to this CD, you can wish that the modern musical ethos was a little less committed to composing all your material and just a little more about performing a few 'standards' now and again.

This is just the kind of CD you need to get a good sense of Mose Allison's work.

Recommended.

A great performer,will surprise and delight you with every song. Mose Allison came to my attention as a gift from a dear friend, just to become one of my favorite performers. Full of charm and talent, it is a mystery to me why Allison remains such a well kept secret.

Mose Allison recorded 10 albums for Atlantic Records, and this CD compiles the best of his work from some of those albums. For the most part, it's hard to disagree with the choices. "Your mind is on vacation" is one of Moses's greatest songs ever, sung to the patrons of noisy nightclubs ("If talkin' was criminal, you'd lead a life of crime") and is a no-brainer for inclusion. Likewise with "I don't worry about a thing," "New Parchman" (a remake of his "Parchman Farm" on Prestige), and "I love the life I live." If you like Mose, you'll definitely want this CD; if you want to check out an excellent singer who sings funky and wise, give this a try. You won't be disappointed.

Got rid of my overplayed, scratched-up record album in 1986 (it was old even then), and have been looking for another copy ever since. So glad to have found it here! Mr. Mose Allison, I feel, gives us Hard Bop- 50's to 60's Jazz containing a kind of smooth Blues flavor- with uncompromising style and attitude. Some may describe him as witty and wise, others as cynical or hard. Everyone calls him Cool. (That is, those who understand Jazz and are a bit more familiar with this crowd, who can be so very UNpolitically correct, will definitely call him Cool.) Not necessarily cool as in "Cool Jazz", just- Cool.

Mister Allison may very well come across as incomprehensible to the uninitiated, however. Hard Bop piano playing is rarely nice and neat, it doesn't always- or even usually- follow the rules. But that in no way precludes talent and skill. (In other words, I think he's got the chops. *grin...*) A musician's musician, one who has obviously lived the life for many a year, and who has been respected for all or most of that time by those who know better. Sense of humor a little dark, sense of rhythm, timing and feeling all impeccable. His music will get into your blood. The recordings are older and definitely not 5 star, but are well worth listening to if you want a jazz education, or even if you just want to indulge in a little real pleasure. Enjoy them.

This is my first introduction to the artist and as a vivid jazz listener I am embarresed not to discover Mose Allison earlier. His piano and singing style is definitely unique. And, his lyrics are poetically distinct. I will definitely continue to explore his music. I strongly recommend this cd to any jazz fan.

Van Morrison loves his stuff and they did an album together. Now what does that tell you? Smooth cool voice, witty, and nice jazzy piano. He's bad but soooooo good!

I've been a big fan of his music for about 55 years. This is a great selection of his songs. BUY IT.

It's an ok CD! I found it is good to mix his songs with the rest of my non-Mose collection.
This CD will not set the world alight, but it's got a good, light jazz thing going on.

Gotta Love Most, problem is, your preview versin is the correct album version, but what you get is a completely different version - can you please fix this?