Album review: Mose Allison, 'The Way of the World'
3.5 stars (out of 4)
At 82, Allison is a jazz master who hasn’t recorded a studio album in 12 years, which makes “The Way of the World” (Anti) an event. Though justly celebrated by jazz heads for his evocative piano style, a mix of bluesy swing and Thelonious Monk-like impishness, he is also revered by rock artists for his sneaky melodies and wittily subversive Beat-poet lyrics. The Who, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello and the Clash, among countless others, have covered his songs.
Joe Henry, the noted singer-songwriter whose production work has led to sterling late-career albums recently by Solomon Burke and Allen Toussaint, continues his hot streak with Allison. Recording over five days with his hand-picked band of California-based conspirators (including ace drummer Jay Bellerose and guitarist Greg Leisz), Henry puts the jazz great in a limber, small-group setting well-suited to Allison’s no-frills style and laconic tone.
At 82, Allison is a jazz master who hasn’t recorded a studio album in 12 years, which makes “The Way of the World” (Anti) an event. Though justly celebrated by jazz heads for his evocative piano style, a mix of bluesy swing and Thelonious Monk-like impishness, he is also revered by rock artists for his sneaky melodies and wittily subversive Beat-poet lyrics. The Who, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello and the Clash, among countless others, have covered his songs.
Joe Henry, the noted singer-songwriter whose production work has led to sterling late-career albums recently by Solomon Burke and Allen Toussaint, continues his hot streak with Allison. Recording over five days with his hand-picked band of California-based conspirators (including ace drummer Jay Bellerose and guitarist Greg Leisz), Henry puts the jazz great in a limber, small-group setting well-suited to Allison’s no-frills style and laconic tone.
The Mississippi-born pianist’s weather-beaten drawl hasn’t changed all that much; its off-hand cadences remain perfectly suited for his songs of wry discontent, whether ruminating on women (“Everybody Thinks You’re An Angel”), religion (“Modest Proposal”) or his own restless imagination (“My Brain”). And, then just because he felt like flexing his be-bop chops, Allison unleashes a fierce torrent of notes on the instrumental “Crush,” which should discourage anyone from writing a reflective, lion-in-winter elegy about this sly devil.
greg@gregkot.com
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