Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else [Holland Import]

Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else is one of the great hard bop sessions of the 1950s, and this Holland import pairs the original album with bonus tracks.

Recorded in 1958, it offers a rare chance to hear Miles Davis as a sideman, during the same period when Adderley was playing alto in Davis's own groundbreaking sextet. With Hank Jones on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Art Blakey on drums, the lineup reads like a who's who of the era, yet the mood is relaxed, elegant and deeply bluesy.

The opening "Autumn Leaves" is the centerpiece, a slow, smoky reading of the standard that unfolds over eleven unhurried minutes. Davis states the theme on muted trumpet, and Adderley answers with a solo that's both lyrical and teasingly playful. "Love for Sale" brings a little more tension, its brooding vamp giving way to swinging, fluid exchanges.

The title track, written by Davis, is a sly conversation between the two horns, trading phrases like old friends finishing each other's sentences, while Blakey keeps everything simmering underneath.

It has long been a cornerstone of any serious jazz shelf, and it remains one of the warmest, most welcoming records of its kind. The bonus material adds a little extra to linger over once the original sides have played.