Mose Allison - The Mose Allison Collection 1956-62 (2014)

Mose Allison is an artist who successfully straddled the worlds of jazz, blues and R&B, during a career which has so far encompassed more than six decades. As he himself observed on many occasions, as a white college kid, he was by no means the archetypal blues artist, but he captured the essence of that genre as well as sharing the stage and studio with some of the top names in modern jazz – Al Cohn, Bob Brookmeyer, Stan Getz and Zoot Sims among them. He also influenced a host of emerging blues and rock artists in the late ‘50s with iconic songs like “Parchman Farm” and “Young Man Blues” which bridged the gap to the ‘60s blues and R&B boom. This great value 82-track 4-CD set provides a comprehensive overview of the key first six years of his prolific recording career during which he established his reputation. Presented in chronological order it slects material from just about every notable session he recorded, interspersing his solo blues and jazz album projects with studio sessions and ‘live’ performances with the noted jazz artists mentioned above, including some exhilarating extended pieces. It includes just about every vocal track he recorded during this time, when his recording company saw him more a pure pianist than blues artist. As a result it provides a great showcase for every aspect of his talents as accomplished jazz and blues pianist, whether solo, in his own trio or with other artists’ ensembles, and blues singer and composer.