Search - Mose Allison :: Allison Wonderland: Anthology

The Ultimate From The Ultimate Hipster

Ralph Quirino | Keswick, Ontario Canada | 05/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mose Allison is the ultimate hipster: his laconic yet never lazy delivery as smooth as a sunny summer afternoon breeze, his songs wry and sardonic set pieces filled with just the right amount of irony and wit, the music surrounding them uncluttered and casual. This double CD set of his "best" material gives casual buyers a superb overview of the man's fifty years in the biz. It starts with early cuts for Riverside in the fifties and winds on down through his Atlantic years (thanks to keenly biting songs like "Your Mind Is On Vacation" and "Your Molecular Structure") and ends up in the late eighties and mid nineties for Blue Note. Especially cool is hearing a grand cut like "Ever Since The World Ended", a post-Apocalypse blues that's genuinely funny and heart-warming at the same time (it's taken from the album of the same name on Blue Note, a totally recommended yet sadly deleted disc should the reader come across it). Here's the amazing thing: whether you listen to a classic like "Parchman's Farm" or his most recent material, Mose Allison sounds like he hasn't aged. Or maybe it's just that then and now, he was/is always just that much more ahead of us. We are not worthy! But we'll gladly enjoy this great anthology!"

One of the greatest music finds I've have in some time

Matthew P. Harjo | Seattle, WA | 02/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For how superb these songs are, I'm acutally quite shocked I had never heard of Mose Allison before. I heard a song of his from the soundtrack of a movie (It was "I Don't Worry About A Thing" from the movie "The Whole Nine Yards") and absolutely had to wait until the credits rolled to look for the song title and artist. I'm glad I did it.I recently visited Las Vegas (and will be returning soon!) and had been curious about where all of the great music that I was listening to the whole time was hiding. I've heard some good stuff from various players, but nothing snuck up on me quite like this. If you enjoy the sound of a smooth bass line and a man who not only knows how to play the piano but has a fantastic voice, I highly recommend buying his works. I'll be purchasing more of his titles soon."

I can't believe this monumental compilation has received onl

T. Davis | Seattle, WA | 05/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is prima facie evidence that Mose Allison is an underappreciated jazz giant. Without question the hippest, wittiest, coolest, swingingest songwriter, pianist, and singer ever to rise from the Mississippi Delta, Mose is a delight in every respect, a writer's writer and performer's performer who has been deeply influential in both style and substance for over three generations, from the fifties through the new century. His songs have been praised and covered by a panoply of greats: The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, J. J. Cale, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Clash, Leon Russell, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, and many more. If you don't know him, you owe it to yourself to discover him, and this album is the perfect place to start. If you already know him, you need this album, as it has all of his greatest songs. It's a gas!"