Customer Reviews

Somethin' Else

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Cut in 1958 for the Blue Note Lable, Somethin' Else is one of the all time great jazz albums. The personnel features Cannonball on alto, Miles Davis on Trumpet, Hank Jones on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and the great Art Blakey on drums. It may say Cannonball Adderly on the album cover, and have Miles Davis listed as a sideman, but this has the feel of a Miles Davis album all the way. The selection of material and the musician's laid back approach, tempered by the contrast of Mile's simmering mute with an expressive firey second horn, here the exuberant Adderley, are trademarks from this era of Davis' career. Regardless of who led the session, it is one any fan of jazz simply must have. It is one of those rare albums that is immediately accessable, and you can tell you will be listening to repeatedly from the first note. Every track's performance is a highlight, but Cannonball's playing is particularly inspired, especially his soulful blues soaked soloing on Dancing in the dark, and boppish flight on One For Daddy-O. Miles is dramatic, soulful, vulnerable, and sultry all at once. His muted playing on the first two tracks is simply sumptuous, with his open horn solo on One For Daddy-O and his "call and response" exchange with Adderley at the end of the title track being truly inspired. Hank Jones contributes a flawless hard swinging piano. Taking every note he is given and making it count, Hank makes his accompaniment as well as his solos sound as if he is playing them the only way they possibly could be. Art Blakey and the underrated Sam Jones are water tight in support, with Blakey unusually restrained throughout the album, his only solo space on the album's final track. At the end of One For Daddy-O we hear a puckish Miles ask producer Alfred Lion, "Is that what you wanted, Alfred?", and then some I'll wager. This is an album that will appeal to the jazz novice and the aficionado alike, if you do not have it, buy it, you won't be dissappointed.

There are a few reissues of this absolutely great Cannonball Adderley recording. The first five cuts on all the reissues are the same 5 cuts that make up the original vinyl LP. A few of the reissued CD's have an additional sixth cut. The sixth cut was discovered by Blue Note and initially released in Japan in 1982 and given the name "Allison's Uncle" because Nat Adderley's daughter was born on the day it was recorded. Further research revealed that the mystery tune is a Hank Jones composition that the pianist recorded as "Rangoon" with the Gigi Gryce/Donald Byrd Jazz Lab quintet for a Jubilee label in August 1957. Therefore, please be advised that "Allison's Uncle" and "Rangoon" and the same exact cut, just with a different name for the same song. I got this info from the Rudy Van Gelder Edition footnotes by Bob Blumenthal. Tidbits like this are very important to me and thought it might be valuable to others as well.

One of the best recordings in Jazz's long history was made when five of the premire musicians of Jazz, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderly, Art Blakey, and the other greats got together for this landmark recording. From the first song "Autumn Leaves" to the last song "Bangoon", each and every song on this showcases the brilliant musicianship and uniqueness that this quintet had. Miles Davis on his unique and brilliant Trumpet, Cannonball Adderly on the Sax, and Art Blakey on the Drums, as well as the other greats on this show their fantastic style excellently. This timeframe of Jazz (mid 1950's to early 1960's) produced some of the absolute best recordings that Jazz ever offered.

Something Else is a perfect way to introduce a person who never listened to Jazz to the fantastic, complex sound of the Jazz world. In my opinion, this is an album (CD) that every Jazz enthusiast MUST have in their collection, it is that brilliant and fresh and can be listened to with enjoyment over and over again. Well worth 5 stars and more!

After hearing "Kind of Blue", I was so impressed by Cannonball that I wanted to start getting some of his own albums. All I heard was positve reviews for this wonderful masterpiece, so, of course, I picked it up and was enthralled. This album has the ability to put anyone in a happy mood. I know this because when I first bought this, I was a bit depressed, but that all went away after listening to this album and Dexter Gordon's "Go" (another Blue Note masterpiece!). I love the way Cannonball and the band (which includes Miles Davis on trumpet in one of his rare appearances as a sideman, Hank Jones on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and the incredible Art Blakey on drums) play the over-done standards "Autumn Leaves" and "Love For Sale", and make them more exciting than anyone has ever done to these gems. "Autumn Leaves" has a very laid-back, but moody feeling, while "Love For Sale" swings hard. The title track does an awesome job of showing the formidable solo talents of Cannonball and Miles, and they engage in one of the most amazing interactions in jazz history. "One For Daddy-O", written by Cannonball's brother Nat (who appears with him on many sessions featuring Cannonball's classic quintet), is the blues of the set, and the feel is just awesome. Cannonball and Miles always shined on their blues performances and this track is definitely no exception. "Dancing in the Dark" is Cannonball's individual showcase, and boy does this track haunt me! The way Cannonball handles this often-done standard has the ability to move me to tears. Finally, the track finishes with "Bangoon" a Hank Jones original that wasn't included in the original album, which provides a worthy ending for an incredible album, which is in my opinion the best album jazz has to offer!

I am a jazz music fan in South Korea. I have much of jazz album in my CD rack. Among these collections, I have this title(Something Else) with 3 kinds of issues. The first one was issued by Toshiba EMI(Japan), the second one was by EMI(Holland) and the last one was by this RVG series. The reason why I bought this title 3 times is that I feel the fist song of this album "Autumn Leaves" is the best play among the hundreds of same songs. It is elegance, balanced, moderate improvisation itself. As you may know, this RVG series are limited edition and best sound among many versions. So, If you want to listen to the miles and cannonball's beautiful play, you'd better buy this RVG series. I checked with my system (EL34 tube amp, spendor 3/5a speaker, philips mechanism CD player). The sounds are better than previous issues.

The number of the stars doesn't rate the music, nor the quality of this RVG remastering. I just wanted to draw your attention to something:

Other reviewers who own this new 1999 RVG remastered album have stated that it is in Mono, although from what I read, Rudy van Gelder supposedly originally recorded the album in Mono as well as Stereo.

I ordered the the 1990 remastering (by Ron McMaster) and it is in Stereo.

Currently, Amazon does show the search result under the album title for the old remastering, which is OOP, but available cheaply by scores of Marketplace sellers. Up to a few days ago they did not show it in the search results.

When I originally searched for "Somethin' Else", or "Cannonball Adderley Somethin Else", Amazon only showed search results for the 1999 or later RVG remastered (Mono) versions. After a while, I found out I had to search for "Cannonball Adderley" only, no album name. When I flipped through the pages of search results under his name, I found, toward the end, the OOP 1990 remastered release, which I bought. I like the sound of the old release, it is (I think real, not manuctured) Stereo.

Some Jazz conoisseurs prefer the older, Ron McMaster remasterings of classic Blue Note CDs over the new (especially 1999 - 2003) RVG remasterings, in spite of the fact, that the latter are remastered by Rudy van Gelder, the original recording engineer of those classic Jazz performances.

My comment is not supposed to be critical of the RVG remasterings. Reading some of the critical reviews may help you make a decision. I just want to assist you in finding the 1990 release, in case Amazon chooses again to hide the results. Try to search for "Cannonball Adderley" only. Don't give up, that album does exist.

I ordered the RVG Remaster without realizing I had the previous edition (remastered by Ron McMaster) in my collection. An A-B comparison reveals that the previous edition has depth, subtlety, dynamic nuance, with the opening rhythmic figure by Hank Jones followed by the sustained pianissimo whole notes of Cannonball and Miles establishing an inviting mystique, then building on this mood right up to the first chorus of what is probably the most celebrated recorded version of "Autumn Leaves" in jazz. The RVG remaster starts with "hot" mics on the piano, then on both horns, with little difference in dynamic extremes. In fact, dynamics, ensemble textures, and stereo separation become meaningless as Rudy seems intent simply on making whatever instrument is temporarily featured as loud as possible. Having been spoiled by the previous edition, not to mention Miles' sound on his classic Columbia sessions, I can't stay with the RVG remaster, though admittedly some listeners attracted to the 1950s hard bop Blue Note sound may react differently.

The bonus track on the previous edition is titled "Alison's Uncle"; on the new edition, it's "Bangoon."

I have hundreds of Van Gelder-engineered sessions past and present and have yet to hear a remaster that is a dramatic improvement (in the case of "Somethin' Else" the opposite seems true). Apparently Blue Note had second thoughts about the project and has passed it on to Concord, though the majors are increasingly pushing downloaded tracks and the bigger profit margins they bring (no packaging costs, no need to pay writers for liner notes). The RVG reissues were at least welcome for assuring the continued circulation of vital music and for the updated, frequently informative and insightful liner notes. Unfortunately, we've reached yet another stage in the digital revolution. It's exceedingly rare now to find domestic jazz releases, whether new or reissues, of any sort. Like other collectors, I've had to look to Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, Holland, etc. for reissues (and first-time releases) of historically significant, indispensable American music. (I'm left to wonder if Ken Burns' absorbing PBS series on jazz merely provoked complacency or, worse, a backlash against the music.)

A great example of Cannonball Adderley's gift to the world - his unequaled sense of uncomplicated melody. No other saxophonist in modern jazz had such a love affair with what less sympathetic listeners might deem 'the cliche' - a notable phrase that might have been heard before in numerous lesser recordings, but that Cannonball used because he truly liked the way they sounded, not because he was running out of ideas. His solos on this album and many others are as pleasant to experience as any in jazz, and while at times he came across as a bit of a lightweight, there's always something serene and lovable about his choice of notes, often preferable to the sturm und drang of his contemporaries. This isn't really Cannonball's date, as Miles needed to fill out an album requirement for Blue Note and decided to give his friend a hand. Miles takes the first solos and dominates overall, yet it's also an equal meeting between the two. Great hard bop, with an excellent bonus cut, 'Alison's Uncle', sounding like a lost Charlie Parker track from 1953.

Do not be surprised if you see the word masterpiece or classic a lot because there are a lot of excellent records out there. "Somethin Else" is definitely a masterful work of art and no one could have done it better than Cannonball and Miles. Joining the Horn men are Hank Jones on Piano, Sam Jones on Bass and the great Art "Buhaina" Blakey on the Drums. Hank Jones( older Brother of Thad and Elvin), as miles commented in the notes, a very light touch that is perfect for this kind of setting. Sam Jones(no relation to Hank) has one of the biggest sounds that any bass player has ever gotten. Blakey who is usually all fired up when playing with his messengers, shows that he can cool down.

The opener is the well known standard "Autumn Leaves". Blakey and Sam Jones start off with a sort of latin beat and get the groove on. Miles plays the melody behind the trio and Adderley comes in to his solo. The ending almost has a feeling of leaves falling from the trees. Although Adderley notes that his biggest influence was Bird, he has a style, distinctly, his own.
"Love for Sale" is another classic standard and Miles takes the theme and Cannonball, who is the only soloist on the piece, takes his time and blows some very fine lines out of his sax.
The title track is an medium up-tempo minor blues built of the Harmonic minor scale. Miles and Cannonball get plenty of time to stretch out on their solos. "One for daddy-o" is another minor blues this time the tempo is slowed down and Adderley gets even funkier. Dancing in the dark is a ballad standard featuring Adderley. The bonus track, "Bangoon" is a Hank Jones composition and is based off the popular chord sequence known as rhythmn changes.

Don't pass this one by because it really is Somethin Else!

The richness of tone and beauty of melody achieved in these sessions is difficult to match. Nothing is forced, everyone takes their turn without any sense of impatience or underlying rancor, yet the performances display an understanding of the opportunity and a sense that judgments will be made regarding the work created here. The result is a piece of art that is seemless, timeless and ever-rewarding to the listener. It is well-recorded and balanced, displaying Alfred Lion-Rudy Van Gelder seminal production values. Cannonball proves himself well-suited to play with the all-stars in this assemblage, but it is Miles Davis who, seemingly without effort, ascends to the top of this marvelous recording. Stands with Kind of Blue, Blue Train, Portrait in Jazz and a few other recordings as one of the high points of the seminal era of jazz.