JULIAN CANNONBALL ADDERLEY & MILES DAVIS – Somethin’ Else
Masterworks singles EAN: 8436539312116
JULIAN “CANNONBALL” ADDERLEY, alto sax MILES DAVIS, trumpet HANK JONES, piano SAM JONES, bass ART BLAKEY, drums
Somethin' Else (originally Blue Note BLP 1595) tracks 1 to 6 was issued in 1959 under Cannonball Adderley's name when he was in the Miles Davis Sextet. Cannonball was joined by Hank Jones, Sam Jones, Art Blakey and Miles Davis. The reputation of the original album has grown over the years and is seen as one of the key albums of the 50s. There is a bonus here a complete 1958 session by the Miles Davis Sextet with Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane and Bill Evans originally issued on the Jazz Track LP.
It is a splendid collection of music which anyone who loves jazz should possess.
Nominally, Adderley is the leader but it is Miles Davis who dominates. He picked the compositions and wrote the title track. Miles is the first soloist heard on the opening track, an elongated version of ‘Autumn Leaves’ which Miles went on to play frequently for the next ten years. Adderley was much more than a Parker clone and obviously his inclusion in the Davis group meant that the hyper-critical Davis was more than satisfied with him. Maybe Davis saw Adderley with his tendency to overstate as a foil to his own understated style. Adderley's at his best in his solo on "Dancing in the Dark" where he veers between Parker and Hodges.
Blakey had pioneered his own version of hard bop with the Messengers. Here he has to sublimate his own urge to dominate but even so he drives the group with passion and ardour. Hank Jones who would go on to have a long and varied career in jazz plays with taste and grace.
If you wonder if you should buy this album, just listen to the whole of ‘Autumn Leaves’. You will be convinced.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
Masterworks singles EAN: 8436539312116
JULIAN “CANNONBALL” ADDERLEY, alto sax MILES DAVIS, trumpet HANK JONES, piano SAM JONES, bass ART BLAKEY, drums
Somethin' Else (originally Blue Note BLP 1595) tracks 1 to 6 was issued in 1959 under Cannonball Adderley's name when he was in the Miles Davis Sextet. Cannonball was joined by Hank Jones, Sam Jones, Art Blakey and Miles Davis. The reputation of the original album has grown over the years and is seen as one of the key albums of the 50s. There is a bonus here a complete 1958 session by the Miles Davis Sextet with Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane and Bill Evans originally issued on the Jazz Track LP.
It is a splendid collection of music which anyone who loves jazz should possess.
Nominally, Adderley is the leader but it is Miles Davis who dominates. He picked the compositions and wrote the title track. Miles is the first soloist heard on the opening track, an elongated version of ‘Autumn Leaves’ which Miles went on to play frequently for the next ten years. Adderley was much more than a Parker clone and obviously his inclusion in the Davis group meant that the hyper-critical Davis was more than satisfied with him. Maybe Davis saw Adderley with his tendency to overstate as a foil to his own understated style. Adderley's at his best in his solo on "Dancing in the Dark" where he veers between Parker and Hodges.
Blakey had pioneered his own version of hard bop with the Messengers. Here he has to sublimate his own urge to dominate but even so he drives the group with passion and ardour. Hank Jones who would go on to have a long and varied career in jazz plays with taste and grace.
If you wonder if you should buy this album, just listen to the whole of ‘Autumn Leaves’. You will be convinced.
Reviewed by Jack Kenny
