If You're Going To The City: A Sweet Relief Tribute To Mose Allison Various Artists - Mose Allison

• 1 Your Mind is on Vacation 02:42
• 2 My Brain 04:13
• 3 If You Live 03:37
• 4 Your Molecular Structure 01:41
• 5 Nightclub 05:16
• 6 Stop This World 03:20
• 7 If You're Going to the City 03:50
• 8 Everybody's Crying Mercy 04:21
• 9 Ever Since the World Ended 02:56
• 10 Parchman Farm 04:11
• 11 I Don't Worry About a Thing 03:22
• 12 Wild Man on the Loose 02:16
• 13 The Way of the World 03:45
• 14 Numbers on Paper 02:21
• 15 Monsters of the Id 03:25
• Total Runtime 51:16

Info for If You're Going To The City: A Sweet Relief Tribute To Mose Allison

Mose Allison's singular style - a unique blend of jazz and blues, his incisive humor, and knack for distilling deep themes into simple potent lyrics made him a major influence on a generation of musicians. It didn’t take much convincing for the producers to bring a host of top artists onboard, including Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, Fiona Apple, Taj Mahal, Ben Harper, Frank Black, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and more. Each artist chose a favorite Mose Allison song to interpret.

If You're Going to the City: A Tribute to Mose Allison is a 15-track collection that was organized by Mose's daughter, singer/songwriter Amy Allison, along with musician/producer Don Heffington.

Other musicians contributing to the album include Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite, The Pixies' Frank Black and The Blasters' Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin. Costello and Amy Allison team up for duet rendition of the song "Monsters of the Id" that closes out the record.

Proceeds raised from the record will benefit the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which provides financial aid for music artists dealing with illness, disabilities or age-related issues.

Explaining how the project came together, Amy says, "We were talking about my dad's legacy and thinking about all the musicians who were fans, and how a tribute album featuring some of these artists would be cool, especially if it were to benefit a worthy cause. Don said 'Let's put it together ourselves.'"

Wainwright remembers, “For many years I made a point of going to see Mose Allison play wherever I could -In London, Chicago, LA, and , of course, in my hometown of New York. I considered his gigs essential listening and going for me was, not to get too highfallutin’ , a pilgrimage. When I nervously would approach to say hello to him after a show I was always thrilled that he seemed happy to see me. Mose’s cover version of my song “I’m Alright” was an unparalleled highlight of my career and I can only hope he would have approved of my stab at “Ever Since The World Ended.”

Mose’s daughter Amy Allison teamed up with musician/producer Don Heffington to honor her father’s rich catalog of songs. “We were talking about my dad’s legacy and thinking about all the musicians who were fans, and how a tribute album featuring some of these artists would be cool, especially if it were to benefit a worthy cause. Don said “Let’s put it together ourselves” and introduced the idea (and me) to his friend producer/engineer /studio owner Sheldon Gomberg. Sheldon ALSO happens to be on the board of Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund, an organization started by Victoria Williams to benefit musicians in need. And so it began…”

Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides assistance to career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Grant recipients include recording artists, club and session musicians, and composers and songwriters from every musical genre. Since its inception, Sweet Relief has helped musicians with medical and living expenses, including insurance premiums, prescriptions, medical treatment and procedures, housing and food costs, utilities, and other basic necessities.

Born in 1927 in the Mississippi Delta, Mose John Allison grew up listening to jazz and blues greats such as Louis Armstrong, Memphis Minnie, Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan and the Nat Cole Trio. He learned to play piano and trumpet as a boy. After a stint in the army and then several years playing in clubs around the South, he moved to New York City to make his career as a pianist, songwriter, and performer fronting his own trio. Allison performed with jazz greats such as Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Gerry Mulligan, and developed a distinctive style of playing that fused blues and jazz with succinct and timeless lyrics. Mose Allison became a favorite among his peers and his songs have been covered by other great artists such as Van Morrison, The Who, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, The Clash and many others. Allison passed away in 2016 at the age of 89.

Mose Allison
was born in the Mississippi Delta on his grandfather’s farm near the village of Tippo. At 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. He played trumpet in the marching and dance bands and started writing his own songs.

After a year at the University of Mississippi, he went to the Army in l946, playing in the Army Band in Colorado Springs and performing with accomplished musicians from around the country in small groups at NCO and Officer’s clubs. Returning to “Ole Miss” he joined the dance band as arranger, piano and trumpet player, but shortly left to form his own trio, playing piano and singing in a style heavily influenced by Nat Cole, Louis Jordan and Erroll Garner. After a year on the road, Mose married, returned to college at Louisiana State University and graduated 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 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, Mose received encouragement, work and a record date from Al Cohn. In 1957 he secured his own first recording contract with Prestige Records, recording Back Country Suite, a collection of pieces evoking the Mississippi Delta, 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.

Mose continued working with his own trio, writing and singing his own songs. His songs are a fusion of rustic blues and jazz, embellished with profound and often humorous lyrics. 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 fusing of these diverse elements into a cohesive performance continues today. A biography, One Man’s Blues: The Life and Music of Mose Allison, written by Patti Jones, was published in 1995 by Quartet Books Ltd. Of London.

Mose continues to write and perform all over the world. His songs have been covered by Van Morrison, John Mayall, The Who, The Clash, Eric Clapton, the Yardbirds, Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt to name a few. Van Morrison recorded a tribute album, Tell Me Something, The Songs of Mose Allison, on Verve Records, and rockers like Pete Townshend, Bonnie Raitt, Ray Davies and Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones have frequently cited Mose Allison as a major influence. During a recent London engagement, Time Out, the major entertainment weekly, praised Mose:

Mose Allison’s popularity in the UK dates from the ‘60s, when his mixture of Delta-born blues feel and his gift for writing a song with a sting in the tail made him a prime source of inspiration for the UK’s new generation of blues/rock artists. Not just namechecked but lionized by the likes of Pete Townshend, Jack Bruce, Brian Auger and Georgie Fame, he became British rock’s most popular jazz musician. His piano style is notable for its strange mixture of classical-influenced sophistication and blues-based intimacy, and there’s still none like him with a lyric.

His most recent Grammy nomination was for one of his two newest recordings, Mose Chronicles, Live in London, Vol. I on Blue Note Records. Mose Chronicles , Vol II was just released last year. Also, British born Director Paul Barnays has produced a one hour documentary on Mose entitled, Mose Allison; Ever Since I Stole the Blues, for the BBC4 in the UK. Among recent releases are a dozen reissues on CD including Allison Wonderland and a double CD retrospective on Rhino, and High Jinks, a three CD package on Legacy. Blue Note has also re-released a collection of past recordings, Mose Allison, Jazz Profiles. His music has often been used in movies, and he can be seen performing in the recently released movie, The Score, starring Robert DeNiro and Marlon Brando.

Mose resides on Long Island with his wife Audre where they raised four children: Alissa an attorney, John a Telecommunication Specialist, Janine a psychiatrist, and Amy Allison, also a successful and respected singer songwriter in New York with her own group.

As one writer recently said: “Mose is now at the peak of his performing career. Although maybe this last statement is not quite true as he seems to continue to improve on perfection.”

This album contains no booklet.