"Somethin Else" has never been a favorite record. Being a Cannonball junkie, I have owned this record for many years and have always had mixed feelings about it; it should be great, but comes up short of me.
I agree with Rok's overall take. Clearly, this is excellent jazz playing. How could it not be? But still......
For me, there are some problems with this date that keep it out of the "great" category. The biggest one is the rhythm section. I agree with Rok on this point, but disagree that the main culprit is Hank Jones. I think the main problem is Sam Jones; I can't believe how monotonous his playing is on most of the cuts. His walking lines usually stay within a narrow range, and his intonation is questionable. A close second is Art Blakey, IMO. I confess that, eventhough I have been a fan of his bands, I have never been a huge fan of Art Blakey's playing. I find it is not rhythmically incisive enough at times, and a little sloppy. I think that the rhythm section limits the soloists and the recording, overall, lacks the fire that Cannonball is known for. Listen to "One For Daddy-O", the rhythm section actually starts to slow down a little bit about 3/4 of the way through the tune. Notice how when they return to the melody, it doesn't have as much pep as in the very beginning of the tune. In general, there is a sense that the rhythm section is not reacting to the soloists as they improvise and are not contributing to changing the landscape.
Rok brought up the issue of the producer. A couple of thoughts:
First of all the, influence of Miles should not be underestimated. It could be argued that this is a Miles date; he picked almost all the tunes on the record. BTW, the voice heard saying "is that what you want Alfred?" is that of Miles, not Cannonball. Two observations: it was Miles asking the question, not Cannonball, the supposed leader of the date. This supports my point about Miles' influence. Then, why is Miles asking that at all? Because the producer does, in fact, have a lot of power over the goings on. It would not be surprising if the issue was that the producer wanted the tune a little faster or slower, different groove etc., and they finally got it on that particular take.
Still, a lot of great moments
