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Something Else!!!!
1958 studio album by Ornette Coleman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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History
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]
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Critical opinion
Though often controversial at the time,[9] 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".[10] 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.[11] 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".[12]
Pianist Ethan Iverson has written at length about this album and other recordings from Coleman's early period.[13] 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.
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Release history
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
All tracks composed by Ornette Coleman.
- "Invisible" – 4:11
- "The Blessing" – 4:45
- "Jayne" – 7:17
- "Chippie" – 5:37
- "The Disguise" – 2:46
- "Angel Voice" – 4:19
- "Alpha" – 4:09
- "When Will the Blues Leave?" – 4:58
- "The Sphinx" – 4:13
Personnel
- Ornette Coleman – alto saxophone
- Don Cherry – cornet
- Walter Norris – piano
- Don Payne – double bass
- Billy Higgins – drums
- Lester Koenig – producer
- Roy DuNann – engineer
- Nat Hentoff – liner notes
References
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