Way Out West - Album
Way Out West (Album) by Sonny Rollins
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Artist Biography For Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins Born September 7 1930 Is An American Jazz Tenor Saxophonist Who Is Widely Recognized As One Of The Most Important And Influential Jazz Musicians. In A Seven-Decade Career He Has Recorded Over Sixty Albums As A Leader. A Number Of His Compositions Including "St. Thomas" "Oleo" "Doxy" "Pent-Up House" And "Airegin" Have Become Jazz Standards. Rollins Has Been Called "the Greatest Living Improviser" And The "Saxophone Colossus". Rollins Was Born In New York City To Parents From The United States Virgin Islands. The Youngest Of Three Siblings He Grew Up In Central Harlem And On Sugar Hill Receiving His First Alto Saxophone At The Age Of Seven Or Eight. He Attended Edward W. Stitt Junior High School And Graduated From Benjamin Franklin High School In East Harlem. Rollins Started As A Pianist Changed To Alto Saxophone And Finally Switched To Tenor In 1946. During His High School Years He Played In A Band With Other Future Jazz Legends Jackie McLean Kenny Drew And Art Taylor. As A Saxophonist He Had Initially Been Attracted To The Jump And R&B Sounds Of Performers Like Louis Jordan But Soon Became Drawn Into The Mainstream Tenor Saxophone Tradition. The German Critic Joachim Berendt Described This Tradition As Sitting Between The Two Poles Of The Strong Sonority Of Coleman Hawkins And The Light Flexible Phrasing Of Lester Young Which Did So Much To Inspire The Fleet Improvisation Of Bebop In The 1950s. Other Tenor Saxophone Influences Include Ben Webster And Don Byas. By His Mid-Teens Rollins Became Heavily Influenced By Alto Saxophonist Charlie Parker. During His High School Years He Was Mentored By The Pianist And Composer Thelonious Monk Often Rehearsing At Monk's Apartment. Rollins Has Played At Various Times A Selmer Mark VI Tenor Saxophone And A Buescher Aristocrat. During The 1970s He Recorded On Soprano Saxophone For The Album Easy Living. His Preferred Mouthpieces Are Made By Otto Link And Berg Larsen. He Uses Frederick Hemke Medium Reeds.
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Biography - Sonny Rollins
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins Born September 7 1930 Is An American Jazz Tenor Saxophonist Who Is Widely Recognized As One Of The Most Important And Influential Jazz Musicians. In A Seven-Decade Career He Has Recorded Over Sixty Albums As A Leader. A Number Of His Compositions Including "St. Thomas" "Oleo" "Doxy" "Pent-Up House" And "Airegin" Have Become Jazz Standards. Rollins Has Been Called "the Greatest Living Improviser" And The "Saxophone Colossus". Rollins Was Born In New York City To Parents From The United States Virgin Islands. The Youngest Of Three Siblings He Grew Up In Central Harlem And On Sugar Hill Receiving His First Alto Saxophone At The Age Of Seven Or Eight. He Attended Edward W. Stitt Junior High School And Graduated From Benjamin Franklin High School In East Harlem. Rollins Started As A Pianist Changed To Alto Saxophone And Finally Switched To Tenor In 1946. During His High School Years He Played In A Band With Other Future Jazz Legends Jackie McLean Kenny Drew And Art Taylor. As A Saxophonist He Had Initially Been Attracted To The Jump And R&B Sounds Of Performers Like Louis Jordan But Soon Became Drawn Into The Mainstream Tenor Saxophone Tradition. The German Critic Joachim Berendt Described This Tradition As Sitting Between The Two Poles Of The Strong Sonority Of Coleman Hawkins And The Light Flexible Phrasing Of Lester Young Which Did So Much To Inspire The Fleet Improvisation Of Bebop In The 1950s. Other Tenor Saxophone Influences Include Ben Webster And Don Byas. By His Mid-Teens Rollins Became Heavily Influenced By Alto Saxophonist Charlie Parker. During His High School Years He Was Mentored By The Pianist And Composer Thelonious Monk Often Rehearsing At Monk's Apartment. Rollins Has Played At Various Times A Selmer Mark VI Tenor Saxophone And A Buescher Aristocrat. During The 1970s He Recorded On Soprano Saxophone For The Album Easy Living. His Preferred Mouthpieces Are Made By Otto Link And Berg Larsen. He Uses Frederick Hemke Medium Reeds.
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16 Similar Artists To Sonny Rollins - Frogtoon Music
Dexter Gordon Lee Morgan Hank Mobley Cannonball Adderley Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Joe Henderson Wayne Shorter Art Pepper Freddie Hubbard Sonny Clark John Coltrane Jackie McLean Oliver Nelson Kenny Burrell Kenny Dorham Thelonious Monk.
Published: 01 Jan 2018, 13:35
Way Out West Is A March 7 1957 Album By Sonny Rollins With Bassist Ray Brown And Drummer Shelly Manne Neither Of Whom Had Played Or Recorded With Rollins Before. The Music Employs A Technique Called "strolling" Used Here By Rollins For The First Time In Which He Would Solo Over Only Bass And Drums With No Pianist Playing Chords. The Recent Reissue Of The CD Has Additional Takes Of Three Of The Songs Including The Title Track. These Additional Takes Are All About Twice As Long Containing Much Longer Solos From All Three Of The Members Of The Band. In Order To Fit The Recording Session Into The Musicians' Busy Schedules It Was Scheduled "for 3 A.M." According To The Liner Notes By Producer Lester Koenig "At 7 A.M. After Four Hours Of Intense Concentration During Which They Recorded Half The Album And Should Have Been Exhausted Sonny Said 'I'm Hot Now.' Shelly Who Had Been Up For 24 Hours Said 'Man I Feel Like Playing.' And Ray Who Was Equally Tired And Had A Studio Call For The Afternoon Just Smiled." The Picture For The Cover Taken By Celebrated Jazz Photographer William Claxton With The Saxophonist Dressed In Stetson Hat Holster And Horn In Place Of A Pistol Was Rollins' Own Idea To Celebrate His First Trip Out West According To Koenig In The Liner Notes.