Listen: Baby, Please Don’t Go / The Mose Allison Trio
Baby,

There are times when we don’t even realize what’s right in front of our eyes. Certainly, that’s the case with me. I must admit, more than once, well more than one hundred times, while riding the London subway system, I kind of scour the car and think, I may be standing next to one of fellows from The Action or John’s Children, or, or, or…..Seriously, this often crosses my mind.

Just prior to Christmas 2011, Lindsay Hutton was over from Scotland for a week’s vacation, and on his final night, we went to the Limerick House down the street from my office. The place shouldn’t exist. It’s a working class pub from the 70′s in the thick of the gentrified, self proclaimed wonderfulness known as Chelsea, yet still with reasonably priced beers and untouched, original down at heel decor.

Amy, a longtime friend of his from here in New York and I were talking when Lindsay inquired about her new album. The conversation turned to various details surrounding plans for it’s release, bits of setbacks during recording etc. Speaking primarily to Lindsay about these fine points, she mentions her Dad played on a track or two, how he hadn’t done much recording for a while, and that he was rather cranky about it or some such thing. Out of polite curiosity, I inquire about his history, only to discover her Dad is indeed Mose Allison.

“What! Say that again! Mose Allison? Are you serious?”

It was true, and oddly enough, in the deep dark dungeons of my mind, I was aware Lindsay knew her, Duane too, but never ever remembered to bring it up.

Out of my wallet came the blank jukebox tab, and into Amy’s it went. Shock over, conversation continued.

Guess what turned up yesterday in the mail. The completed artifact pictured below. Thank you Amy Allison.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Mose Allison

Listen: Baby, Please Don’t Go / The Mose Allison Trio
Baby, Please Don't Go / The Mose Allison Trio

Not for years after I should have paid attention, did I finally discover Mose Allison. He played local clubs when I was in college, but I foolishly missed him. Somewhere along the line, I’d noticed Georgie Fame dropping his name one too many times, so had a look. Probably picked up a dollar album or the like. Don’t remember noticing his singles much. Their voices were almost identical, and the way Georgie Fame revered him was obvious.

This would have been the early 90′s, when I started to collecting jazz singles. They were everywhere, and dirt cheap. All of them sounded particularly good in the jukebox. I used to brag about hating jazz, and how it should be a controlled substance but now admit my arrogance was out of line. Still don’t like the brassy side, but small combo piano/guitar/vibes stuff, love those. The Mose Allison Trio fit right in, definitely paved my way to a whole new genre of 7″ collecting.