Something Else

Ornette Coleman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000Y9C
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,209 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

COLEMAN ORNETTE SOMETHING ELSE !!!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joyous, early Ornette, August 30, 2000

By 

Jonathan Mayhew (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Something Else (Audio CD)

Ornette Coleman's tunes on this early album are bouncy and melodic. The overall mood is up-beat and optimistic. Purists will prefer "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and other recordings by his more austere pianoless quartet recorded a few years later. But for me the piano and bass playing fairly conventional jazz changes behind Ornette and Don Cherry "works"-- even if it really shouldn't. And Billy Higgins' light touch on the drums adds just the right tone: I can picture him smiling as he plays. "The Blessing" has become a jazz standard, and all the quirky melodies stay in your head for a long while. This should be in your Ornette collection, whether it is the first or last recording of his you buy.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a severely underrated album, October 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Something Else (Audio CD)

The piano sounds fine! This is rediculous. In fact, you hardly notice it. It's very low in the mix. What a great album! All the tunes are his, the saxaphone playing is excellent (incredibly smooth). The notes Coleman puts together on this album are definitely strange, but the overall effect is not overwhelming cacophony, like found on Free Jazz. In fact, it's an incredibly straight forward album. Coleman was an innovator, but sometimes you just want to relax and take a break from his edgier music, regardless of how innovative it may have been. In summary- the songs are relatively simple, but certainly not boring. The sax playing is EXCELLENT. I like it better than "shape of jazz to come" which, i think, is an overproduced album. What is that crappy treble sound in Atlantic Jazz recordings? Anyway, you won't find it on this album.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start For Ornette, But Not For You, July 18, 2000

By 

Michael B. Richman (Portland, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Something Else (Audio CD)

"Somethin' Else" might have been a good start for Ornette Coleman's recording career, but it is not the best place to start your Ornette Coleman CD collection. The tunes are good, and 3/4 of his classic Atlantic quartet (Ornette, Don Cherry and Billy Higgins) are present, but the album lacks musical cohesion. This is laregly due to the inclusion of piano in the group. While Paul Bley may have been able to accompany Ornette on some level, Walter Norris does not, and piano in general was not well-suited to Ornette's music. In fact, I'm not sure he ever recorded with a piano player again until recently with Geri Allen on the "Sound Museum" sessions. Ornette fans will certainly want to get this, but others should have a dozen other Ornette CDs under their belt before this one.