A 1956 session features Sonny Rollins with the Miles Davis rhythm section, including Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, delivering inventive performances on tracks such as “Paul’s Pal” and “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.” Rollins’ later 1957 work pairs him with Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, and Max Roach, with “St Thomas” becoming a career staple and “Blue Seven” demonstrating how improvisation on simple fragments can reshape jazz practice. “Way Out West” presents a demanding sax-and-rhythm format with bass and drums, using west coast partners and turning showtunes into improvisational vehicles, highlighted by “Come, Gone.”
"A 30-year-old Sonny Rollins had already made his unique mark with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk by the time this 1956 session was cut, just a year after bebop sax revolutionary Charlie Parker's death but hooking up with his contemporary and admirer John Coltrane happened by chance on the two-tenor blues chase of this album's title. In a vivacious set with the Miles Davis rhythm section of the time (Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums), the leader's already unquenchable inventiveness is in full flow on Paul's Pal, and The Most Beautiful Girl in the World."
"Rollins was partnered on this classic set by pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Doug Watkins and bebop-pioneering drummer Max Roach. The calypso St Thomas became a Rollins staple throughout his career, but the long improvisation Blue Seven sketched new parameters for how in-the-moment variations on simple theme-fragments could redefine generations of jazz-making to come."
"When UK jazz musician Courtney Pine was blossoming as a teenage saxophonist in the early 80s, he would recall that Sonny Rollins' 1957 recording Way Out West was a key inspiration. The format was a Rollins favourite in his own early years the demanding setup of a sax improviser with just bass and drums in support, and with unfamiliar west coast partners here. Rollins foregrounded his quirky fondness for cheesy showtunes that could be turned inside out (notably I'm an Old Cowhand)"
Read at www.theguardian.com
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