John Allison (left), son of jazz legend and Mississippi native Mose Allison, shows off a poster featuring his father to blues curator Greg Johnson at the University of Mississippi’s J.D. Williams Library. John Allison recently donated materials to the library’s Blues Archive.
Mose Allison may not “worry about a thing,” and he doesn’t have to worry about a home for his albums, either. His son, John, has donated 40 records to the Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi.
The 83-year-old composer, poet, pianist and vocalist Mose Allison was born in Tippo, in Tallahatchie County. He has been a major influence on many musicians over the last 50 years and is known as the “William Faulkner of Jazz.” His style is a unique blending of jazz and blues with a profound lyrical wit.
John Allison, who had not been to campus in two decades, told colorful stories about his father at an informal presentation in the Faulkner Room of the J.D. Williams Library. He brought with him the albums that spanned his father’s lifetime, including “Back Country Suite,” “Local Color” and “Lessons in Living – Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival.”
“The collection of these albums has been on my shelf for years, and now they’re here for students to use,” John Allison said. “His entire career is right here.”
Mose Allison’s songs have been recorded by, among others, Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones, Diana Krall, John Mayall (with Eric Clapton) and Elvis Costello. After a 12-year recording hiatus, he also released 2010’s “The Way of the World” on Anti-Records, produced by Joe Henry.
Greg Johnson, blues curator at the J.D. Williams Library, said he is grateful for the gift.
“It is helping round out our Mose Allison collection,” Johnson said. “All of them will be available for students of music or Southern studies, or anyone who has an interest in learning about one of the most influential musicians of the last 60 years.”
John Allison said that since his father spent time in the area, it was time for the collection to reside at Ole Miss.
“They belong here, and the fact is that Mose has come full circle, and Oxford is part of the circle,” he said. “I’ve felt we should have done this for years.”
After a year at UM, Mose Allison entered the U.S. Army in l946, playing in the Army Band in Colorado Springs, Colo., and performing with accomplished musicians from around the country in small groups at noncommissioned and commissioned officers’ clubs. Returning to Ole Miss, he joined the dance band as arranger, pianist and trumpet player but left soon afterward to form his own trio. He later graduated from Louisiana State University and moved to New York City.
Mose Allison recently returned to Mississippi to perform at Delta State University and was honored Feb. 16 in Jackson, where the Mississippi Arts Commission presented him with a Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award. On Feb. 17, the Mississippi Blues Commission unveiled a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in his honor.