Something Else!!!! (subtitled The Music of Ornette Coleman) is the debut album by jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman. It was released by Contemporary Records in September 1958.^[1] According to AllMusic, the album "shook up the jazz world", revitalizing the union of blues and jazz and restoring "blues to their 'classic' beginnings in African music".^[3] It is unusual in Coleman's output in that it features a conventional bebop quintet instrumentation (saxophone, cornet, piano, bass and drums); after this album, Coleman would omit the piano, creating a starker and more fluid sound.

While working as an elevator operator in a department store in Los Angeles, Ornette assembled a group of musicians—teenaged cornet player Don Cherry, double bass player Charlie Haden, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins—with whom he could explore his unusual jazz compositions.^[4][5] Coleman was introduced to music producer Lester Koenig of Contemporary Records by a bebop bassist friend of Cherry's, Red Mitchell, who thought Koenig might be interested in purchasing Coleman's songs.^[4] When other musicians found the tunes too challenging, Coleman was invited to perform the compositions himself.^[4]

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Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[7]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[8]
Tom Hull	B+[9]

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Though often controversial at the time,^[10] music from Coleman's first album is now generally well received. Rolling Stone commented admiringly on the composer's "genuinely original voice" and "freakishly structured tunes".^[11] All About Jazz reviewer John Barrett Jr. cautions that, though dissonant, this album is not the first of the free jazz movement with which Coleman is so associated.^[12] Nevertheless, in 2007, All About Jazz credited the album with introducing "a new era in jazz", transforming the genre by demonstrating a style of music "freed from the prevailing conventions of harmony, rhythm and melody".^[13]

Pianist Ethan Iverson has written at length about this album and other recordings from Coleman's early period.^[14] His argument is that on his early albums Coleman's attempts to break free of chords and chorus-structures are hampered by sidemen who are unwilling to follow his cue.

Originally released under the Contemporary imprint in mono and then later (either in 1959 or 1960) issued with a different cover photo and in stereo. The stereo remix of the album was re-released in 1992 on LP, compact disc and compact cassette in collaboration between Contemporary and OJC.

All tracks composed by Ornette Coleman.

1. "Invisible" – 4:11
2. "The Blessing" – 4:45
3. "Jayne" – 7:17
4. "Chippie" – 5:37
5. "The Disguise" – 2:46
6. "Angel Voice" – 4:19
7. "Alpha" – 4:09
8. "When Will the Blues Leave?" – 4:58
9. "The Sphinx" – 4:13

• Ornette Coleman – alto saxophone
• Don Cherry – cornet
• Walter Norris – piano
• Don Payne – double bass
• Billy Higgins – drums
• Lester Koenig – producer
• Roy DuNann – engineer
• Nat Hentoff – liner notes