Sonny Rollins - 'Way Out West'

 

 'Way Out West' was recorded for the Contemporary Records label in 1957, and is regarded as an all-time Sonny Rollins classic. 

At 26, Sonny, a New York native, was visiting California for the first time while on tour with drummer Max Roach.  Sonny's label Contemporary Records asked him to put together an album during his visit, the inspiration was obvious: the wide open spaces of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Westerns Sonny had grown up watching.

There’s certainly a literal level to the album’s Western theme: “I’m an Old Cowhand,” Johnny Mercer’s 1936 ode to city slickers, “Wagon Wheels,” and “Way Out West,” an original by Rollins, all offer some degree of country shuffle and even a few woodblock horse-hoof clip-clops courtesy of drummer Shelly Manne.  The cover, an instantly iconic study in subverting kitsch (Sonny had an explicit interest in the often overlooked history of black cowboys), shows him heeled with his horn instead of a Winchester.

'Way Out West' was recorded at Contemporary's studio in Los Angeles March 7, 1957, at 3 A.M., as bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne had commitments for other studio dates and gigs.  This was one of the first, if not the first, jazz album to use a saxophone-bass-drums trio, and without the accompaniment of a piano or guitar, allowed for a more liberated approach to improvisation.  It also didn’t hurt that the rhythm section of Ray Brown and Shelly Manne, were two of the best in the history of Jazz.

Today's freeload is the 2003 Japanese release, remastered by Akira Taguchi using JVC's XRCD mastering process, and it sounds pretty great.

 For the freeload, what are some of your favorite movie and TV Westerns?