Cannonball Adderley Somethin’ Else (1958) Blue Note

BLUE NOTE CLASSICS: BN 1595  SOMETHIN’ ELSE

Selection: Autumn Leaves (Kosma/ Prevert)

A track that could segue into Kind of Blue, Miles simmering muted trumpet paints the melody,  Adderley’s alto solo is inspired, beautiful in structure, dripping with elegant grace notes and flourishes, falling away to rippling piano worthy of Duke Pearson on  Idle Moments, while Blakey is the epitome of restraint, pushing along the cool and melancholy mood together with Hank Jones flawless execution of the underlying chord changes. Total empathy and artistry between the players, and its just 1958.

The song Autumn Leaves dates from 1945, in French, Les feuilles mortes ,”The Dead Leaves”, with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prevert, a  metaphor of falling leaves symbolizing a lost relationship. In passing, you have to ask, what is it about French songwriters that they don’t seem able to hold down a steady relationship? The  poignancy of the song is retained in the chord changes that have made it a permanent jazz standard. Miles and Adderley’s interpretation remains timeless.

Artists

Miles Davis (t) Cannonball Adderley (as) Hank Jones (p) Sam Jones (b) Art Blakey (d) recorded Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 9, 1958

Miles Davis, King of Cool on contract to Columbia, Hank Jones veteran of swing on contract  to Capitol, Art Blakey the thundering voice of Bop, Cannonball swaggering in his prime, Sam Jones – a solid bass player always in demand, doing the heavy lifting.

Music

A recent exchange with LJC poster Matty reminded me that  a lot of great jazz recordings were missing from  LJC, for the simple reason they did not happen to be a recent acquisition. When I started out with the idea of a “Diary of a Record Collector” it seemed right to post about acquisitions, but moving on, new acquisitions are falling in number as we enter the world of the more rare and expensive records, and there is often much more interesting vinyl on the shelf than there is in the post. So I have decided to expand the blog to include occasional posts on classic titles.

One of those desert island discs, especially to be desired on an island  where there is no autumn and no leaves, is Cannonball Adderleys “Somethin’ Else” . Every track is a jazz classic, the whole album is a jazz classic, some of the finest jazz on record.

(I can’t run to Family Favourites, but if there are any records you would like to see featured here – if I have them on vinyl – let me know. I’ll keep an eye on requests)

Vinyl: BN 1595  mono NY labels no DG

Original Blue Note but second third pressing on NY labels, the original of which would sport 47 West 63rd St labels and deep groove However life is too short to be without a copy of this record, whatever the label.

Interesting, the etchings for the A side  indicates a third master lacquer  A-2 as source, whilst the B side indicates the first lacquer, complete with the typical “9M” etching. Anyone out there with the first press on 47 West 63rd anything to add on the run-out of their copy?

Collectors Corner

Second pressings are not difficult to come by, and  it probably sold in good enough numbers to stop Ebay sellers yelping Rare!!!  A perfect first pressing might be nice, but there are other records to chase. This copy is not perfect, but I enjoy it enough as it is. There are other great records still to chase.