Wikipedia

Something Else!!!!

Something Else!!!! (subtitled The Music of Ornette Coleman) is the debut album by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It was released by Contemporary Records in September 1958.[1] According to AllMusic, the album "shook up the jazz world", revitalizing the union of blues and jazz and restoring "blues to their 'classic' beginnings in African music".[3] It is unusual in Coleman's output in that it features a conventional bebop quintet instrumentation (saxophone, cornet, piano, bass and drums); after this album, Coleman would omit the piano, creating a starker and more fluid sound.

Something Else!!!!
Studio album by
Ornette Coleman
ReleasedSeptember 1958 (1958-09)[1]
RecordedFebruary 10, 22 & March 24, 1958
GenreFree jazz[2]
Length42:15
LabelContemporary
ProducerLester Koenig
Ornette Coleman chronology
Something Else!!!!
(1958) 		Tomorrow Is the Question!
(1959)

History

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While working as an elevator operator in a department store in Los Angeles, Ornette assembled a group of musicians—teenaged cornet player Don Cherry, double bass player Charlie Haden, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins—with whom he could explore his unusual jazz compositions.[4][5] Coleman was introduced to music producer Lester Koenig of Contemporary Records by a bebop bassist friend of Cherry's, Red Mitchell, who thought Koenig might be interested in purchasing Coleman's songs.[4] When other musicians found the tunes too challenging, Coleman was invited to perform the compositions himself.[4]

Critical opinion

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic     [6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide     [7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings    [8]
Tom HullB [9]

Though often controversial at the time,[10] music from Coleman's first album is now generally well received. Rolling Stone commented admiringly on the composer's "genuinely original voice" and "freakishly structured tunes".[11] All About Jazz reviewer John Barrett Jr. cautions that, though dissonant, this album is not the first of the free jazz movement with which Coleman is so associated.[12] Nevertheless, in 2007, All About Jazz credited the album with introducing "a new era in jazz", transforming the genre by demonstrating a style of music "freed from the prevailing conventions of harmony, rhythm and melody".[13]

Pianist Ethan Iverson has written at length about this album and other recordings from Coleman's early period.[14] His argument is that on his early albums Coleman's attempts to break free of chords and chorus-structures are hampered by sidemen who are unwilling to follow his cue.

Release history

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Originally released under the Contemporary imprint in mono and then later (either in 1959 or 1960) issued with a different cover photo and in stereo. The stereo remix of the album was re-released in 1992 on LP, compact disc and compact cassette in collaboration between Contemporary and OJC.

Track listing

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All tracks composed by Ornette Coleman.

  1. "Invisible" – 4:11
  2. "The Blessing" – 4:45
  3. "Jayne" – 7:17
  4. "Chippie" – 5:37
  5. "The Disguise" – 2:46
  6. "Angel Voice" – 4:19
  7. "Alpha" – 4:09
  8. "When Will the Blues Leave?" – 4:58
  9. "The Sphinx" – 4:13

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ a b Gold, Don, ed. (September 4, 1958). "Music News: USA West" (PDF). Down Beat. Vol. 25, no. 18. Chicago/New York: Maher Publications. p. 11.
  2. ^ "The 40 Most Groundbreaking Records of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  3. ^ Something Else!!!! at AllMusic
  4. ^ a b c Ornette Coleman 3 Bass Quintet Archived 2007-08-02 at archive.today. Accessed September 28, 2007.
  5. ^ Then Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine Official Ornette Coleman website. Accessed September 28, 2007.
  6. ^ Allmusic review
  7. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 45. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  8. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  9. ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz (1940–50s) (Reference)". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  10. ^ Prize in Music – Biography Ornette Coleman Pulitzer. Accessed September 28, 2007
  11. ^ Brackett, Nathan, ed. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, 4th edition. Simon & Schuster. 2004. Page 178.
  12. ^ Barrett, Jr. John. (December 1, 1998). Something Else!!!!—The Music of Ornette Coleman All About Jazz. Accessed September 28, 2007.
  13. ^ Ornette Coleman, 2007 Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, Opens the 2007/08 UCLA Live Jazz Series Sept. 26 September 5, 2007. Accessed September 28, 2007.
  14. ^ Iverson, Ethan (September 19, 2010). "This is Our Mystic". Do the Math. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
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