Jazz giant delivers in KCSM benefit

by Rebecca Rosen Lum

Staff writer, Independent News Group

He may be a “certified senior citizen,” but in his late 60s, jazz giant Mose Allison has never played with more energy, dexterity and drive.

As he says in his own lyric, the "gray-haired geezer" he sees reflected in a window "ain’t the real me.”

In performance at the College of San Mateo Saturday night – one of six benefits he did for all-jazz radio station KCSM – Allison let loose a many-layered cascade of licks that didn’t let up.

The pianist and his two Bay Area sidemen, Mel Graves on bass and George Marsh on drums, kicked off the Saturday show by tearing into a rollicking “Carnival,” featuring an exquisite drum solo by Marsh, a musical percussionist.

From there, Allison dished up the acerbic lyrics and Delta-flavored jazz that have reeled in fans since the 1950s, segueing from “City Home” to “When You Get to the City.”

Allison has said that given his origins, he couldn’t help but be influenced by the blues that surrounded him in his native Mississippi. His predictably hot cover of Muddy Waters’ “Rolling Stone” revealed how deep his blues roots run.

Who would have guessed he would chase it with a surprisingly up-tempo version of Hank Williams’ “Hey, Good Lookin’” devoid of twang and rendered urbane and funky?

He kept the audience on its toes, following up a pounding cover of Willie Dixon’s “Seventh Son” with the reflective, touching “Hello There, Universe.”

Allison has endeared himself to generations of fans with his spare, poetic lyrics, such as in the tender "My Back Yard" ("My back yard in the moonlight: a buffoon might relax/dispense with wisecracks/start over again").

Sunday night brought a different line-up, including “Certified Senior Citizen" and "Do My Part," with a crackling solo by Graves on bass. Energized by the more lively audience, Allison ripped his jacket off after “Carnival,” and his gray-booted feet never stopped jumping during the remainder of the show.