Down Home Piano

Album Review

Although Mose Allison is perhaps best known for his enjoyably idiosyncratic vocal style, he is first and foremost a marvelous piano player with a unique style pitched somewhere between a New Orleans bordello and the rhythmic and harmonic experimentation of Thelonious Monk or Sun Ra. This well-chosen 1966 compilation (released after Allison had split for Atlantic Records) pulls together ten of his best instrumentals from four of his six Prestige albums, and it makes a strong case for Allison as one of the most inventive piano players and composers of his generation. The selection runs from the definitive performance of Allison's signature ballad "Crepuscular Air" (which foreshadows nearly the entire career of West Coast cool pianist Vince Guaraldi) to the witty, technically impressive and musically joyous post-bop workouts "Devil in the Cane Field" and "The Minstrels." Throughout, Allison's interplay with his longtime bassist Addison Farmer is fantastic; Allison's left-hand walking bass runs are usually in counterpoint to Farmer's inspired comping, adding greatly to the songs' rhythmic complexity. Mostly, however, Down Home Piano is just enormous fun to listen to.