Music Notes by Mark Jordan New Stuff In The Bins Okay, time to play catch-up once again on the new local releases. It’s good (though a little overwhelming for me personally) to see that the lack of a big-time music industry infrastructure hasn’t stopped local artists from putting out records. In fact, though most local record labels are strictly homegrown operations, a few are very prolific, organized, and surprisingly successful. Mose Allison One label that some of the other local indie operators could learn a thing from is Ecko Records. This little blues label is almost certainly the most active in Memphis, issuing probably close to a dozen releases a year. Ecko has so many recordings lying about, in fact, that they were able recently to throw together a couple of compilation CDs. First up is volume two of It’s A Beach Thang: Ecko Records Greatest Shag Hits, which, I guess, pretty much describes itself. Also new is Juke Joint Saturday Night Vol. 1. Both these records feature the Ecko sound – smooth, horn-driven R&B with a production style that recalls Z.Z. Hill. Besides being pretty good party mixes, these collections are also a good introduction to the Ecko stable of artists that includes Lee “Shot” Williams, Rufus Thomas, and Barbara Carr. And if Carr does push your buttons, you’re in luck; Ecko has just put out her latest disc, the, shall we say, ribald Bone Me Like You Own Me. (Never thought I’d type that sentence.) New from 32 Jazz, the New York label that recently re-released some of Memphis saxophonists Hank Crawford’s early work, is a compilation from Tippo, Mississippi’s Mose Allison. Still an area favorite who regularly plays Huey’s, Allison is a true musical original who combines melodic, jazzy piano blues with his own witty, distinctively Southern lyrics. Titled The Sage of Tippo, the two-disc set is composed of four previously out-of-print albums from Allison’s ’60s work on Atlantic Records, largely considered his finest period. Included are 1963’s Swingin’ Machine, a typically eclectic album with boogie-woogie, New Orleans jazz, blues, and folk stylings worked in. The Word From Mose, recorded in 1964, marks the beginning of Allison’s trio work, still his preferred format today. And the 1966 release Wild Man On the Loose and 1968’s I’ve Been Doin’ Some Thinkin’ round out the collection. Finally, Bolivar native Rick Moore, a former Memphian who was a staple of Don McMinn’s band for years, has released his first solo CD, Slow Burnin’ Fire. Though he now lives in Nashville, Moore’s album bears that unmistakable Memphis blues-rock stamp as best personified by Reba Russell and McMinn, who contributed his song “Whole Lotta Woman” to the proceedings. It’s an uncommonly soulful record to have come out of Nashville, and the record retains just enough of Moore and the Mr. Lucky Band’s fire to give you the idea that theirs would be a great live show.