Mose Allison – Way of the World

From the cerebral reconstruction of the Blues classic “My Babe”  called “My Brain” to the bouncy anti-apology “I Know You Didn’t Mean It,” the brilliant no Blues rocker “I’m Alright,” and the sax-y surrendering protest song “The Way of the World” to the cynically spiritual “Modest Proposal,” Mose Allison continues to take the standard and the sacred and turn them on their heads while maintaining his tongue in cheek and winking attitude.

Musically, this set swings from the charging piano piece “Crush” to the languid tambourined trio “Everybody Thnks You’re an Angel” and the slide guitar-supported snapper “Some Right, Some Wrong” to an intimate intrpretation of the Nat Cole chestnut “Once in a While” and a duet with daughter Amy on the appropraitely-titled  springy closer “This New Situation.”

Though the label may be new (if not surprising), this latest release from one of the hardest working and playing men in Jazz is a great collection of well-produced (thanks, Joe Henry!) tracks that showcase Allison’s enduring “Sage” sense of timing and lyric. While even some of the non-cover tracks sound similar – both to each other and to older Allison opfferings – that does not mean they are any less worthy of your precious listening time…which they are!