Somethin' Else

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Professional reviews
Somethin' Else

Studio album by Cannonball Adderley
Released	1958
Recorded	Van Gelder Studio (Hackensack) March 9, 1958
Genre	Jazz
Length	43:41
Label	Blue Note Records
Producer(s)	Alfred Lion
All Music Guide link
Cannonball Adderley chronology
Cannonball's Sharpshooters (1958)	Somethin' Else (1958)	Alabama Concerto (1958)

Somethin' Else is a 1958 (see 1958 in music) album by jazz musician Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, regarded as a landmark album in the hard bop and cool styles. This critically-acclaimed LP is notable for the presence and prominent contributions of Miles Davis, in one of his few recording dates for Blue Note Records. Many critics and jazz fans consider Somethin' Else to be among the greatest jazz albums of all time [1].

The extent of Davis's leadership or co-leadership on Somethin' Else is disputed. Davis plays several of the first solos, and, according to the liner notes, chose most of the material - he would continue to play "Autumn Leaves" and "Love For Sale", at increasingly frenetic tempos, in the years to come. He also composed the bluesy title track and suggested Adderley cover "Dancing In the Dark" (on which Davis does not appear). The one exception is the 12-bar blues, "One For Daddy-O", written by Adderley's brother Nat (for a radio DJ, not the Adderleys' father). Nonetheless, at the end of that track, Davis can be heard addressing producer Alfred Lion: "Is that what you wanted, Alfred?" The collaboration between Adderley and Davis would continue in 1959 with Davis's Kind of Blue, one of the most universally acclaimed jazz albums.

The album also features Art Blakey on drums, with Hank Jones on piano and Sam Jones (no relation) on double bass.

CD reissues include a bonus track, variously titled "Bangoon" or (originally, and incorrectly) "Allison's Uncle". That song is a Hank Jones composition, more hard bop in orientation than the rest of the record. It features a paradigmatic solo by Blakey (he can be heard humming along during the solo). The title under which the song was originally released, "Allison's Uncle", refers to the fact that the session took place shortly after the wife of Adderley's brother Nat had given birth to a daughter named Allison - thus making Cannonball Adderley "Allison's Uncle".