Mose Allison with Pete Amahl & Luis Guerra

Now 82, the one- of-a-kind Mose Allison was born in 1927 on his grandfather’s farm in the Mississippi Delta.  At age five he discovered he could play the piano “by ear” and began “picking’ out” blues and boogie tunes he heard on the local jukebox. In high school he listened to the music of Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, and his prime inspiration, Nat Cole of the King Cole Trio. In 1946, after a year at the University of Mississippi, he went into the Army playing in the Army Band throughout the US, returning to college at Louisiana State and graduating in 1952 with a BA in English and Philosophy. He worked in nightclubs throughout the Southeast and West, blending the raw blues of his childhood with the modern pianistic influences of John Lewis, Thelonius Monk and Al Haig. His vocal style was influenced by blues singers Percy Mayfield and Charles Brown. Arriving in New York in 1956 his solo career took off and in 1957 he recorded Back Country Suite, a collection of pieces evoking the Mississippi Delta, and released to unanimous critical acclaim. Mose went on to play and record with jazz greats Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Gerry Mulligan as well as with his own Mose Allison Trio. As a pianist, while admiring jazz masters Bud Powell and Lenny Tristano, he also learned from composers such as Bartok, Ives, Hindemith and Ruggles. The fusion of these diverse elements into a unique and cohesive performance style remains his signature. Mose Allison will be joined tonight by New Mexico’s own drumming legend Pete Amahl, who has worked with Mose on numerous occasions, plus bassist Luis Guerra.

$30/$25 Members & Students.
Available in advance, by phone or in person, at the Outpost Performance Space (268-0044)