Movers And Shakers

A new box set chronicles the “saxophone Colossus”’s late 50s California sojourn.

- Charles Waring

Sonny Rollins: horny devil

Sonny Rollins

Go West! The Contemporary Records Albums

Craft CR-00434 (3CD, 3LP)

It’s March 1957 and 26-year-old Sonny Rollins feels like he’s in dreamland as he stares into a camera lens under the blazing sun in the middle of the Mohave Desert. It’s the New York saxophonist’s first time in California and he’s in a celebratory mood. He’s just met model Dawn Finney, the girl he’s going to marry, and has also finished recording his debut album for producer Lester Koenig’s Los Angeles-based Contemporary label. A longtime aficionado of cowboy movies, Rollins agrees to let noted jazz photographer William Caxton take pictures of him for the album cover wearing a 10-gallon hat and gun holster; though some accused Rollins of cheapening his talent with unnecessary gimmicks, the saxophonist-as-gun-slinger image went on to grace Way Out West, one of the biggest musical milestones in the saxophonist’s long and storied career. That classic album is now revived as part of Go West! The Contemporary Records Albums, a 3LP/CD box set celebrating Rollins’ late-50s West Coast sojourn.