When Mose Allison cut his first record, “autotune” would’ve been a clumsy reference to spark plugs and air filters. While a lot has changed since 1957, the Mississippian’s music has not. The alternately casual and insistent (but always jazzy) piano style, the accentuated singing, the lyric wordplay … it’s all just as present and robust on The Way Of The World as it was fifty years ago. The real surprise isn’t the overall quality of the album, but that it got made at all.
For that, we have Joe Henry to thank. Before he took the producer’s chair, he had to persuade Allison to give him something to produce. With that much settled, Allison brought several new songs to the sessions, and Henry returned the favor by bringing a few associates.
And the sidemen’s blend of solos and sympathies is what takes The Way Of The World beyond what would’ve been a perfectly pleasant piano-trio effort. Jay Bellerose rumbles some cloud cover before the instrumental “Crush” breaks into a flat-out sprint. All-world session guitarist/stringman Greg Leisz lays in a few fine solos and a bucket of fills.
As it turns out, the title track is really the best example of the dynamic here. Built around Allison’s slow stride, the sound becomes quite full while almost everyone involved is playing next to nothing. It’s an especially tricky feat for David Piltch on upright bass, doing his thing but steering clear of Allison’s left hand. The arrangement is made when Walter Smith III’s easygoing sax solo blows in on a different key, then right out the back door before the song picks up where it left off.
The arrangement is made when Walter Smith III’s easygoing sax solo blows in on a different key, then right out the back door before the song picks up where it left off.
Not that Allison’s own playing doesn’t keep pace. His solo “Modest Proposal” is as memorable for his nimble piano break — with its runs over his left-hand counterpoint and bare splotches of chord — as for its anti-dogma appeal. “Some Right, Some Wrong” showcases yet more tactical left-hand work.
The Way Of The World isn’t a start-to-finish hit. It might drag in a couple of spots in the second half. But to the credit of the 82-year-old former student of English, philosophy, and chemical engineering, that’s where the covers are. Even so, moments like the chorus chords of the ’52 hit “Once In A While” may charm you nonetheless. The closing duet with his daughter seems tacked-on, too, but it takes a harder heart than mine to hold that against the pianist.
I’m a big Joe Henry fan. Whenever I hear about a new production job, I think, “Well, guess that pushes back his next release a little further.” But I can’t argue with this particular excursion, and I suspect Mr. Allison is glad he eventually figured that he shouldn’t, either.
