SONNY ROLLINS: WAY OUT WEST (CONTEMPORARY RECORD - ACOUSTIC SOUNDS SERIE)

Performer: Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Ray Brown, double bass; Shelly Manne, drums
Composer: Sonny Rollins
Number of discs: 1
Barcode: 0888072590076
Label: Craft Recordings
Format: LP
Genre: Jazz
Year: 2024

A new release in the Acoustic Sounds Contemporary Records series

180-gram audiophile vinyl reissue of a key Contemporary Records album

Legendary artists including Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Helen Humes, Ben Webster, and many others

Audiophile remastering by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes

Pressed at RTI

Vintage-style gatefold cover produced by Stoughton Printing

Series supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds

Widely regarded as a major classic in its genre, Way Out West was the first album recorded by the great tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins for the West Coast label Contemporary Records. About this album, the New York Times critic wrote: “Sonny Rollins is undoubtedly the greatest living improviser, a reputation owed largely to his ability to inject ironic humor, constant surprises, a brilliant logical structure, and profound emotional depth into his solos.” In a genre where many talents were lost too young, Rollins (now happily retired at age 94) has been one of the most formidable jazz talents. His 1957 classic, Way Out West, received five stars from Rolling Stone’s prestigious Jazz Record Guide and led Pitchfork to call it “an album that feels fresh and unfolds with transcendent style.”

The famed late-night recording sessions that produced this album featured Rollins’ brilliant saxophone alongside the exceptional rhythm section of Ella Fitzgerald’s bassist Ray Brown and West Coast jazz icon Shelly Manne on drums—none of whom had previously played with him. The results are simply remarkable: “I’m an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande),” a playful, ironic Texas-themed tune written by Johnny Mercer and popularized by Bing Crosby, cleverly fuses country and jazz, while the title track Way Out West showcases Rollins’ dexterity and playful rhythmic inventiveness.

This new edition, part of the Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series, has been impeccably remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog masters, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, and presented in a luxurious tip-on gatefold cover by Stoughton Printing.

Sonny Rollins, tenor sax; Ray Brown, double bass; Shelly Manne, drums

Tracklist

I’m An Old Cowhand
Solitude
Come, Gone
Wagon Wheels
There Is No Greater Love
Way Out West