I Don't Worry About A Thing

During the course of a lengthy career (just short of sixty years and counting), Mose Allison has established a veritable reputation as a jazz blues pianist and singer. He initially made his name as a pianist, a slew of albums for Prestige (one of the key label homes for jazz) marking him out as one of the best talents of his generation. He subsequently recorded for Columbia and Epic (part of the same stable) before signing with Atlantic in 1962, at which point Mose began to strike out in other areas. Always a confident singer during live performances, he pushed to be able to include vocals on his albums, and whilst Atlantic were somewhat reluctant to sanction a complete vocal album (that wouldn't occur until 1963) allowed him to sing on half of I Don't Worry About A Thing's ten tracks. He handles two standards in Meet Me At No Special Place and The Song Is Ended as well as three new compositions, thus adding a further string to his bow. In time, Mose would be able to complete the switch from a pianist who occasionally sang to a singer who also happened to play a mean jazz piano! This is the album with which he announced the start of the transition.