American Musician, Singer and Songwriter. Allison was an influential jazz-blues musician whose songs have been covered by Van Morrison, John Mayall, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Clash, Eric Clapton, the Yardbirds, Elvis Costello and Bonnie Raitt to name a few. At five he discovered he could play the piano by ear and began playing tunes he heard on the local jukebox. In high school, influenced by the music of Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan and Nat 'King' Cole, Allison played trumpet in the marching and dance bands and started writing his own songs. In 1946, after a year at the University of Mississippi, he went to the Army and played in the Army Band in Colorado Springs performing around the country in small groups at NCO and Officer’s clubs. Upon his discharge, he returned to school and joined the dance band as arranger, piano and trumpet player, but shortly left to form his own trio, playing piano. After a year on the road, he returned to college at Louisiana State University and graduated in 1952 with a BA in English and Philosophy. Arriving in New York in 1956, he received encouragement, work and a record date from Al Cohn. In 1957, he secured his first recording contract with Prestige Records, recording 'Back Country Suite'. Over a span of seven decades, he would release nearly 40 albums, among them 'Young Man Mose' (1958), 'I Love the Life I Live' (1960), 'Swingin' Machine' (1962), 'Wild Man on the Loose' (1965), 'Hello There, Universe' (1969), 'Mose in Your Ear' (1972), 'Pure Mose' (1978), 'Lessons in Living' (1982), 'The Earth Wants You' (1993), 'Gimcracks and Gewgaws' (1997), 'The Mose Chronicles: Live in London' (2001) and 'Mose Allison American Legend Live in California' (2015). Allison played and recorded with many jazz greats, among them Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Gerry Mulligan. Allison, who received the prestigious National Endowment for the Artists jazz masters honor in 2013, died of natural causes.