Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else (1958)

BLUE NOTE 25 "BEST" ALBUMS MONTH* (JULY 2026)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1999 Rudy Van Gelder Edition with 1 bonus track.

Widely regarded as a landmark album of hard bop, although the credits might be a little misleading. As the High Fidelity review clearly states, Somethin' Else "is undoubtedly Miles Davis' record." Though officially credited to Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, the album famously features Davis, Adderley's boss at the time. In a rare act of generosity, Davis stepped into a sideman role, but his influence can be heard throughout. Davis didn’t just show up; he brought the moody, bluesy title track and reportedly handpicked most of the album's material. Overall, Somethin' Else tastefully bridges the gap between Milestones and Kind of Blue, cementing its legacy as an essential cornerstone of any jazz collection. With that kind of firepower, it's not surprising that Somethin' Else placed at #1 on the udiscover.com list of the 50 Greatest Blue Note Albums.

Adderley - alto saxophone
Miles Davis - trumpet
Hank Jones - piano
Sam Jones - bass
Art Blakey - drums

Original liner notes by Leonard Feather and 1999 reissue liner notes by Bob Blumenthal.

Reviews/ratings:

• Downbeat (★★★★★): "There's really not too much to say about this set. It's the result of five thoroughly professional jazzmen playing together and making it."
• High Fidelity: "it is undoubtedly Miles Davis' record."
• Stereo Review: "Intensely stimulating."
• Billboard: "perhaps one of the best of the year."
• CashBox: "Fine combo cohesion here."
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★★
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: It's all good, but you just can't beat the first three tracks in that exact order.

Bonus track: Track 6 is a Hank Jones composition titled Bangoon which would have easily fit on the album, but I'm guessing was left off the original release due to time limitations.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

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*In 1987, the European offices of Blue Note records compiled a list of the 25 Best Blue Note Albums in an effort to promote sales of classic Blue Note albums released on CD for the first time. Albums selected for the list were originally released in the years 1953-1967.

At the time, the Blue Note label had been subsumed by the EMI group. This allowed the selections to be made from other EMI labels, namely Capitol, United Artists, and Liberty. Therefore, the list-makers were able to look outside the Blue Note label and squeeze in titles by artists such as Miles Davis, Chet Baker, & Count Basie. It reads more like "albums we had the rights to, by 25 well-known jazz artists," making the list as much about artists as albums. As a marketing tool, it makes sense. As a starting place to build a Blue Note collection you could do worse. Of course, you could also do much better. But the thing exists, it caught my attention, and here we are.