A to Z
MOSE ALLISON
The Complete Atlantic/ Elektra Albums 1962–1983 STRAWBERRY/CHERRY RED
8/10
Twenty years in the career of an eccentric jazz icon
Mose Allison had the best deadpan in jazz. His piano playing was spry, often mordant, but his voice suffused every note with a low-key beatnik irony and turned every lyric into a missive that only the hippest of listeners could decipher. A Mississippi farmboy who served in the army and studied literature at Louisiana State University, he’d lived several lives and released nearly 10 albums before he signed with Atlantic, where he endeared himself to jazz bohos and rockers alike. As a songwriter, he brought a sharp wit to counterculture rebellion (“Young Man Blues”, famously covered by The Who) and anti-war dissent (“Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy”, a hit for Bonnie Raitt). This generous set collects a dozen albums on half a dozen CDs, chronicling Allison’s heyday as well as his fallow period in the early ’80s, portraying him as an extremely idiosyncratic solo performer and a highly mischievous ensemble player.
Extras: 7/10. New, lengthy liner notes. STEPHEN DEUSNER
KAREN BLACK
Dreaming Of You 1971–1976 ANTHOLOGY
7/10
Uncovered reels from Golden Globe-winning actor/songwriter
Chicagoan Karen Black was best known for her work as an actor – across a four-decade-plus career, she appeared in such films as Easy Rider, The Great Gatsby and Five Easy Pieces. She oscillated between genres, as comfortable in the arthouse as she was on the horror screen. Less known, though, is her music, even as she wrote songs for some of the films she appeared in. Dreaming Of Youwas compiled by Black’s friend Cass McCombs, on whose albums she guested, and it reveals a smart, generous songwriter with a gentle melodic sensibility. Given the pared-back acoustic guitar and voice setting, you’d be forgiven for placing this with other once-lost folk singers like Sibylle Baier and Elyse Weinberg, and while there are connections, Black has her own thing going on: the songs skirt profundity through everyday observational flair; the voice arresting, the phrasing stagy but assured.
