Mose Allison review

Photo by Michael Wilson

Last night I went to see legendary singer songwriter Mose Allison at the Enwave Theater at Harbourfront as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival. Allison grew up in Mississippi and has been part of the New York jazz scene since 1956. He started out as a standard jazz pianist until Prestige Records allowed him to sing in 1963. His late-60s Atlantic Records albums are the basis of his current fanbase. Allison is known for his wry observations and social commentary. Many musicians are fans and have covered his songs. Van Morrison even recorded a whole album of Allison songs. Allison's influences are Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole and Fats Waller and Mississippi Delta blues. He actually retired from recording in 1997 but singer songwriter Joe Henry talked him into recording and that album was released last year. Allison was accompanied by a bassist and drummer who were clearly local guys hired for the occasion. They learned his songs and he called them out by number. He had them written on sheets of paper on his piano. As the show went on, he kept going through the papers and he admitted at the end that he was having trouble finding some of the songs. Maybe he needs a big binder a la Irma Thomas. I thought he sounded great for an 83 year old. And he is still a tremendous pianist. He performed some of his classics like Your Mind is On Vacation and even some new ones like Certified Senior Citizen. I would have liked to see him interact more with the audience. But it's great to see a guy that I've admired since the 60s is still going strong. Age has not dulled his sense of humour.