"Mose Allison is really unique in all of jazz. Maybe in all of American music…he's still underrated, and one of the greatest of all American artists…a huge influence on the singer/songwriters of rock ‘n’ roll and the folk tradition." - Murray Horwitz, NPR Radio.

“The unhippest hipster you've ever seen and one of the most original, understated songwriters to ever tackle the mysteries of the blues." -L.A. Times

Every now and then, I find I've had the same CD in my player for days on end. Something about the disc has grabbed me, and held my attention so that I hear something new and enjoyable every time it plays. Most recently, this happened with the new Mose Allison recording, The Way of The World (ANTI-).

I'd been anticipating this disc for months, after reading producer Joe Henry had coaxed Allison back into the studio. Henry has been behind the board for several excellent-sounding recordings over the last decade, including last year's Grammy-winning A Stranger Here by Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Allen Toussaint's Bright Mississippi. There is a certain warmth in his engineering, where a clarinet sounds real, or a tenor sax has intimate dynamics, as if it was being played in your living room. If it wasn’t digital, you could almost call it organic.

Marking his 40th release since his 1957 Prestige debut, Back Country Suite, Mose Allison, in his esteemed half-century career, has also recorded for jazz label giants Atlantic, Blue Note and Columbia. The Tippo, Mississippi, native imbibes both the technique and spirit of Fats Waller, Erroll Garner and Percy Mayfield. A Rolling Stone critic once deemed him "the William Faulkner of jazz."

In The Way of the World, the great southern gentleman pianist sends you rollin' and tumblin' through a set of eight original songs and four covers, include legendary barrelhouse player Roosevelt Sykes' "Some Right, Some Wrong" and Bud Green's 1937(!) hit, "Once in a While."  His daughter, recording artist Amy Allison, joins him in a beautiful rendition of (40's-era bandleader) Buddy Johnson's "This New Situation," an old song ironically relevant in today’s modern times.

Possibly the most catchy tune is the comical "My Brain," a clever re-work of Willie Dixon's boppin’ "My Babe."  Here, the same guy that wrote "Young Man Blues" over 50 years ago tells you how it is now, from the soul of an octogenarian. If you know anyone getting up there in the years, it might help you relate. It's a foot-tapper, and features Allison's signature piano lines, a mixture of boogie-woogie, stride and bop styles.

Another whimsical effort, "Everybody Thinks You’re An Angel," features the resonating sound of a Weissborn, a Hawaiian guitar rarely heard on recordings today.  Producer Henry’s "house band" includes session extraordinaires Jay Bellerose on drums, David Piltch on bass and Greg Leisz on guitar.

If you're new to Mose Allison, you'll likely be curious to delve into his past after hearing The Way of The World. I'd highly recommend the classic Mose Allison Sings (Prestige) and The Best of Mose Allison (Atlantic).

Mose Allison holds fort for a six-night run at Dimitrious' Jazz Alley this summer, July 27th - August 1st. No matter how cold they set the air-conditioning, it won't be as cool as Mose