RUFFIN: NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT

Scamper hot, under

RUFFIN: PIANIST AND 2013 NEA JAZZ MASTER, MOSE ALLISON.

MOSE ALLISON: I STARTED LISTENING TO PIANO SONATAS AND THINGS AND I STARTED SEEING THE WAY COMPOSERS WORKED THE TWO HANDS TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, AND PLAYED OFF ONE LINE AGAINST ANOTHER. WHEN YOU DID ONE THING WITH THE RIGHT HAND THEY DID SOMETHING ELSE WITH THE LEFT. AND I SAW HOW THEY WERE DEVELOPING THOSE SORTS OF TECHNIQUES. AND I DECIDED I'D SEE IF I COULD PICK UP ON A FEW OF THOSE THINGS AND IMPROVISE WITH IT, YOU KNOW. 

Scamper up, under

RUFFIN: DATING BACK TO THE 60s and 70s, ALLISON'S ALWAYS BEEN A SPONGE, ABSORBING NEW IDEAS INTO HIS MUSICAL ARSENAL. ONCE AGAIN, MOSE ALLISON.

ALLISON: I'M TRYING TO UNITE NEW ORLEANS AND VIENNA. SO MUCH OF MODERN JAZZ AND EVERYTHING HAS BECOME MORE EUROPEAN THAN … IT'S CLOSER TO SCHOENBERG THAN IT IS TO LOUIS ARMSTRONG.

RUFFIN: THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH NEA JAZZ MASTER MOSE ALLISON WAS PRODUCED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.

Excerpt of "Scamper” written and performed by Mose Allison from his cd, Back Country Suite, used courtesy of Concord Music, Inc. and used by permission of Audre Mae Music Inc. (BMI).