Coleman's First Word, Before the Free Jazz Storm
The record where Ornette Coleman first put his melodies and his quartet's sound on tape.
Something Else!!!! was recorded in Los Angeles in 1958 for Contemporary Records, a session that gave Ornette Coleman his first real chance to document his ideas on a major label. Coleman brought along Don Cherry on cornet, and the rhythm section featured Billy Higgins on drums, with Don Payne on double bass. Walter Norris is also credited on piano accordion, which gives the record an unusual texture alongside the horns.
The music is lean and purposeful. The tunes are built around short, memorable melodies rather than the chord changes that dominated bebop, and the band plays them with a loose, conversational feel. Cherry's cornet and Coleman's alto trade lines with a bright, slightly edgy sound, and Higgins keeps the pulse moving without locking into the rigid time that many listeners expected. You can hear the band testing where the boundaries are, even if the record stops short of the full free jazz approach he would pursue later.
For anyone coming to Coleman, this is a useful early stop rather than the place to start with his most radical work. It sits between his earlier small-group recordings and the more confrontational Free Jazz (1960) that made his name controversial. If you want to hear the seeds of that later music in a form that is still tuneful and easy to follow, this is a good album to spend time with.
Who's playing
Don Paynedouble bass
Walter Norrispiano accordion
Ornette Colemanalto saxophone
Billy Higginsdrums
Don Cherrycornet
Where next?
More by Ornette Coleman
The Shape of Jazz to Come 1959
New York Is Now 1968
Change of the Century 1960
Tomorrow Is The Question! 1959
The musicians on this record
The Avant-Garde 1966
Don Cherry
plays cornet here
plays cornet here
♫
The Oracle 1989
Billy Higgins
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
