Having retired from live performance in 2012 after 65 years of touring, this brace of reissues from NEA Jazz Master Mose John Allison, Jr – one of the music's singular stylists – is welcome indeed. Dividing equally between vocals and instrumentals, the eight-track Swingin' Machine is an especially fine album which sees the Mississippi pianist, vocalist and composer expanding his customary trio setting with the addition of trombonist Jimmy Knepper and tenor saxist Jimmy Reider. In addition to Duke Ellington's ‘I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues’, the album also features the Allison classic ‘Stop This World’. While the slightly dated sounding Yamaha electric piano may not be to everyone's taste (it features on 8 of 11 tracks), there are still some terrific things on the 1982 ‘comeback’ album Middle Class White Boy. From Muddy Waters' iconic ‘Rollin' Stone’ – a tune which Allison hadn't actually planned to record – to the customary Ellington number (‘I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So’) to quintessential originals such as album opener ‘How Does It Feel? (To Be Good Looking), Allison is on top form throughout.