A session beginning at three in the morning
The Way Out West session was scheduled for three a.m. to fit the musicians’ working commitments. In Los Angeles, Sonny Rollins joined bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne for his first recording date in California. The hour is memorable, but the small line-up is just as important to understanding the album.
There is no piano. No additional instrument continuously supplies chords beneath the tenor saxophone. Brown, Manne and Rollins maintain the form and movement together, leaving you three clearly defined players to follow. Shifting your attention between them is a useful way to explore the trio’s possibilities.
Songs for the western journey
Johnny Mercer’s “I’m an Old Cowhand” and “Wagon Wheels” give the programme its western connection. Ellington’s “Solitude” and “There Is No Greater Love” sit beside Rollins’ own “Come, Gone” and “Way Out West”. Familiar songs, original writing and a playful response to his first journey west all become part of the selection.
Manne introduces “I’m an Old Cowhand” with a hoofbeat figure. That detail shows how one player can suggest a setting without requiring an elaborate arrangement around it. Listen to how the other instruments develop their parts while the rhythmic idea remains a point of reference. The trio has several ways to establish character using only the musicians already in the room.
Three musicians in early stereo
Lester Koenig produced and Roy DuNann recorded the music for Contemporary. The album first appeared in 1957, with a stereo edition following in 1958 on Stereo Records. Its strong separation of Rollins from Brown and Manne belongs to that early stereo recording history.
Try following Brown’s bass first. How does the performance retain its harmonic direction without a pianist? Then return to Manne, noticing how he keeps time, answers phrases and introduces ideas of his own. The absence of a fourth instrument becomes a reason to listen more carefully to the three who are present, rather than a gap that needs to be filled in mentally.
The UHQR release
Analogue Productions AUHQR 0021-45 contains two 200-gram Clarity Vinyl LPs playing at 45 RPM. Bernie Grundman mastered the edition from the original analogue tapes, according to the publisher. The numbered records are manufactured at Quality Record Pressings and supplied in a hinged box. This edition presents the original six-selection programme, without the alternate takes found on expanded CD releases.
Michael 45 holds the edition in Germany and ships it from Hilden, allowing customers in Germany and the EU to order without arranging their own US import or waiting for customs processing.
More from the series: UHQR
Also in another edition: Way Out West
More by Sonny Rollins: Alfie · Rollins Plays For Bird
Artist page: All titles by Sonny Rollins
Customer question: Collecting UHQR records: limited editions of great albums
Series: UHQR – all 31 editions with pressing run and mastering
Musicians
Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.
| Name | Instrument / role |
|---|---|
| Sonny Rollins | Tenor saxophone |
| Ray Brown | Bass |
| Shelly Manne | Drums |
How Michael hears this edition
Listening impression · paraphrased from the video
Michael describes Way Out West and Meets the Rhythm Section jointly as clear, punchy and dynamic. The quiet background in softer passages particularly draws him into the music. His assessment concerns the two reviewed stereo UHQRs at 45 RPM.
🎧 Review video: A Giant Has Left Us - RIP Sonny Rollins
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Torsten Boye –
Eines der zugänglichsten klassischen Jazz-Alben aller Zeiten. Die ausnahmslos wundervollen Tracks wurden im März 1957 (!) aufgenommen, aber das für diese UHQR-Veröffentlichung von Bernie Grundman angefertigte Mastering lässt mich glauben, ich säße mit Sonny Rollins, Shelly Manne und Ray Brown in einem Raum und dürfte deren musikalischen Höchstleistungen lauschen – einfach nur großartig 👏