Out in the Open - Sam Dillon

Out in the Open is tenor saxophonist Sam Dillon's debut as a leader, released on Cellar Live Records. The album features a quartet of Dillon with pianist Peter Zak, bassist Yoshi Waki, and drummer Billy Drummond, working through a program of seven standards and two Dillon originals. A semifinalist in the 2013 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition and a veteran of over twenty recordings as a sideman, Dillon uses the date to showcase his range — from the breakneck tempo of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" to the warm balladry of "Everything Happens to Me" to an unexpected closing cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun." The repertoire also draws from Horace Silver, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the Great American Songbook, with Dillon's two originals, the title track and "New Blues," fitting naturally alongside the standards. All About Jazz praised the album as "refreshing from stem to stern," highlighting Dillon's technique and tonal clarity, and the rhythm section — particularly Drummond's responsive, propulsive drumming — contributes to a recording that captures the energy of a working New York straight-ahead quartet.