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Concert
Review by Nick Morgan |
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| MOSE
ALLISON
Pizza Express Jazz Club, London, May 1st 2005
- by Nick Morgan
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England: Food
(21st Century - personnal archives)
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Hey
Serge, have you tried that new Pizza thing? I’m
not sure if you have it in France yet, but I’m
sure you soon will. Apparently it was invented in
America (I think by a man called Domino Pizza) –
and it’s a bit like a pork-pie. Flattened
that is, and without the pork, and with a much thinner
pastry crust, covered with white gooey stuff, tinned
tomatoes and lots of bits and pieces of foodie thingies.
Yummy! And you can eat it with your fingers, so
there’s much less washing up to worry about.
Ace! |
| The
reason I got to eat one was that Mike (remember
him – Racoon skin hat and French cigarettes?)
was in town. “Let’s go and see Mose
Allison at the Pizza Express”
he said. Well I have to confess that I know almost
as much – or as little – about Mose
A. as I do about Pizza. And much of what I do know
is thanks to covers by other artistes, amongst whom
I should mention the good old Barcodes (although
the list is endless), who are great fans. Anyway,
Mike was very excited (if you can imagine that)
so off we went to see Mr A. performing during one
of his twice yearly three week visits to London
(if you want to share the Pizza fuelled atmosphere
then check out the two live CDs recorded at this
venue). |
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Mose Allison (left) with Mike Nicolson
(right), blues guitarist extraordinaire and ex-distillery
manager at Lagavulin, Caol Ila, Royal Lochnagar
etc. You can read an interesting and funny interview
with Mike on Maltmaniacs. |
| Nice
venue, good seats, Pizza (hmmmmm …) and a
full house to welcome this diminutive septuagenarian
and his band, bass player Andy Weinberg and drummer
Paul Clarvis. Now I should apologise to Andy if
I’ve misspelt his name but would point out
that these two London based performers were quite
excellent, particularly given that they were chasing
Mose most of the night as he moved from song to
song, calling out numbers (a bit like ordering in
a Thai restaurant then) to guide them through the
extensive song book that he carries round with him.
And not all his; so we were treated to tunes by
Percy Mayfield, Jimmy Davies (‘You are my
sunshine’ – a real treat for Morecambe
and Wise fans everywhere), Johnnie Fuller, Big Joe
Williams (‘Baby please don’t go’)
Robert Lockwood and Willie Dixon (several times,
including ‘I live life to love and love life
to live’). But no matter the writer, each
song came through strongly with a real Mose twist
(sometimes a twist of the knife). |
| Born
in the Mississippi Delta, inspired by early jazz
greats (such as Fats Waller, Louis Jordan and Duke
Ellington), an English and Philosophy graduate,
a pianist to the stars (Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan)
Allison appears to combine a wide array of influences.
Whilst his piano playing (and frankly I’m
somewhat out of my depth here) seems to move from
laid back blues through fairly free running jazz
with a hint of well-informed classicism, his voice
and lyrics suggest (the highly unfashionable) Hoagy
Carmichael, Tom Lehrer, and the mightily misogynistic
James Thurber. |
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But the end result is hugely compelling, the music
great, and the songs so wickedly funny that it was
hard to keep a straight face. “This guys over
70 and he’s still taking the piss –
I like that” said Mike.
‘Ever since the world ended I don’t
get out much anymore’, ‘Look what you
made me do’ (with a rhyming sequence of “avenue”,
“Suburu” and “moon blue”),
‘The foodkiller’, ‘What’s
your move’ (“are you the artist that’s
misunderstood, or the bad guy who’s trying
to do good”), ‘Certified senior citizen’
(a Barcodes favourite), ‘Who’s out who’s
in’, ‘Your mind is on vacation’
(“but your mouth is working overtime”),
(“I’m not downhearted but I’m
almost”) ‘Getting there’, ‘The
more you get’ (“the more you’ve
got to loose”). Well you probably begin to
get the picture. Razor sharp lyrics with a deadpan
delivery (is that some sort of Pizza service too
Serge?) and elegant improvised musical discursions
in between. Over thirty songs in two sets. Pizza
heaven indeed. Nick Morgan (photos by Kate,
except pizza by London Institute of International
Studies of Biological Weapons of Mass Destruction) |
Check
the index of all reviews:
Nick's Concert Reviews
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There's nothing more down there... |
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