This set collects
Mose Allison’s first two albums as a bandleader,
Back Country Suite and
Local Color, which were both originally issued as LPs by Prestige Records in 1957 in a single package, and here they prove wonderful and seamless two-fer.
Back Country Suite was recorded on March 7, 1957 with
Allison on piano (and occasional vocals, most notably on “Blues,” which
the Who made more famous decades later as “Young Man’s Blues”),
Taylor La Fargue on bass and
Frank Isola on drums, while
Local Color was recorded November 8 that same year and finds
Allison on piano, vocals (including the wonderful “Parchman Farm”), and trumpet (on a fine version of “Trouble in Mind”),
Addison Farmer on bass, and
Nick Stabulas on drums.