Sonny Rollins
Way Out West.
Tenor saxophone, bass and drums carry Sonny Rollins’s Way Out West: a 1957 Contemporary Records album whose cowboy imagery connects directly with its repertoire.
Rollins’s first California recording session was arranged for three in the morning to fit the players’ schedules. The work continued for hours; the official notes recall that Rollins was still eager to play after four hours, rather than ready to call it a night.
Recorded in Los Angeles in March 1957, the album pairs Rollins with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne. There is no piano or guitar in the lineup. Roy DuNann engineered the session for Contemporary, the Los Angeles label led by Lester Koenig.
The Western connection
The original six-track programme blends Rollins’s compositions with well-known standards and Western songs. His originals include Come, Gone, and Way Out West. The set also features Solitude, associated with Duke Ellington, and There Is No Greater Love, linked to Isham Jones. Western themes are represented by I’m an Old Cowhand, written by Johnny Mercer, and Wagon Wheels. Peter DeRose’s “Wagon Wheels” opens side two of the original LP.
Rollins conceived the album’s distinctive Western-themed cover art. Photographer Bill Claxton captured Rollins in a desert setting, wearing a cowboy outfit while holding his saxophone. This visual choice reflected Rollins’s childhood fascination with cowboy films, a passion he developed while growing up in Harlem.
The album and its expanded editions
Later reissues offer routes beyond the original six tracks. The 2023 Go West! three-CD collection gives Way Out West its own first disc, adds Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders on the second, and devotes a third to Contemporary Alternate Takes. Its booklet includes Ashley Kahn’s notes and a 2021 interview with Rollins. Bernie Grundman remastered that set from the original tapes. It is a broader collection of the Contemporary sessions, rather than simply a different pressing of this one album.
Popular editions to consider
Vinyl: the 2009 Original Jazz Classics edition (OJC-337 / S-7530 / S7530 / C-7530, US) appears in 1,913 Discogs collections. Its community rating is 4.64/5 from 203 votes. There are 49 copies listed for sale. View this Vinyl edition ↗
CD: the 1988 Original Jazz Classics edition (OJCCD-337-2 / S-7530, US) appears in 360 Discogs collections. Its community rating is 4.53/5 from 30 votes. There are 7 copies listed for sale. View this CD edition ↗
SACD: the 2002 Analogue Productions edition (CAPJ 7530 SA / S7017, US) appears in 191 Discogs collections. Its community rating is 4.90/5 from 21 votes. There are 9 copies listed for sale. View this SACD edition ↗
Album details
| Original release | 1957 |
|---|---|
| Label | Contemporary Records |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Recording | Los Angeles, California |
| Trio | Sonny Rollins — tenor saxophone; Ray Brown — bass; Shelly Manne — drums |
| Original programme | 6 tracks |