Luther Allison: I Owe It All To You

POSI-TONE RECORDS (RECORDED MAY 2023)

The “you” Luther Allison refers to on I Owe It All to You are the pianists who inspired him — Donald Brown (his mentor), Mulgrew Miller, Harold Mabern and James Williams. So, it should be no surprise that this recording is packed with hard-driving, gospel infected, blues-soaked hard bop tunes, including one from each of those masters — “New York” by Brown, “From Day to Day” by Miller, “There but the Grace of …” by Mabern and “Say Dr. J” by Williams. In addition to these tributes, Allison displays his composing skills on four original tunes, his soulful ballad playing on Stevie Wonder’s “Knocks Me Off My Feet” and his arranging abilities on Richard Rodger’s “I Didn’t Know What Time it Was,” blending a funky back beat with straight ahead swing. Allison displays the moves of a great boxer on I Owe It All to You. He is continually shifting his stance from straight-ahead swinging to down home blues to tender ballads, and often in the same tune! He hits like a boxer, too — punching out powerful moving chords in his left hand while making swift single note jabs with his right. Bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Zach Adelman are always in his corner, anticipating each move and reacting with just the right notes, rhythms and solos. Having toured with vocalist Samara Joy and recorded on a handful of other Posi-tone sessions, I Owe It All to You is Allison’s debut recording as a leader. It’s as strong as his playing, as invigorating as his energy and always respectful to the “yous’ he owes it all to.

BOTTOM LINE: Luther Allison puts it all together on his debut recording, I Owe It All to You. The gospel music he heard as a child. The blues of his Southern upbringing. The Memphis piano style of his jazz heroes. The responsive support of Boris Kozlov on bass and Zach Adelman on drums. I Owe It All to You establishes Luther Allison as an exciting player, composer and band leader on today’s scene.