Way Out West (Sonny Rollins album)

Way Out West is a 1957 album by American saxophonist Sonny Rollins, with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne, neither of whom had previously played or recorded with Rollins. This was the first time Rollins recorded an album with only bass and drums, with no pianist or guitarist playing chords. The album is widely regarded as a high point in Rollins' discography.

The title has several meanings: Rollins was a native of New York on the eastern coast of the United States, while the album was recorded in the western part of the country in Los Angeles and with musicians associated with West Coast Jazz style. Additionally, Rollins recorded several songs best associated with country and western music, as his cowboy hat and gunslinger costume for the album's cover art implies. The cover photo was taken by celebrated jazz photographer William Claxton. Rollins stands amid a stretch of desert vegetation, dressed in a Stetson hat, gun belt, and empty holster, and holds his saxophone at waist level as if it were a pistol. The photo concept was Rollins' own idea to celebrate his first trip West.^{[citation needed]}

According to the liner notes by producer Lester Koenig, recording began at 3:00 a.m. to fit the musicians' busy schedules, but "[a]t 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 reissue of the album on CD has additional takes of three of the songs, including the title track. These additional takes are all about twice as long as those released on the original album, containing much longer solos from all three members of the band.