- Sam Rivers
Infobox musical artist
Name = Sam Rivers
Img_capt = Sam and Joe Daley, 1976
Img_size =
Landscape = yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Samuel Carthorne Rivers
Alias =
Born = Birth date and age|1923|9|25|mf=y
Died =
Origin =El Reno, Oklahoma , USA
Instrument =Saxophone Clarinet Flute Harmonica Piano
Voice_type =
Genre =Avant-garde Jazz Free jazz
Occupation =Musician Bandleader Composer
Years_active = 1950s – Present
Label = Blue Note, RCA, Impulse, Stunt
Associated_acts =Quincy Jones Miles Davis Dizzy Gillespie Bobby Hutcherson Andrew Hill Jimmy Lyons Dave Holland
URL = [http://www.rivbea.com/ Sam Rivers]
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born
September 25 ,1923 , inEl Reno, Oklahoma ) [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifwxqy5ld0e~T1 allmusic ((( Sam Rivers > Biography ))) ] ] is an Americanjazz musician andcomposer . He performs on soprano and tenorsaxophone s,bass clarinet ,flute , harmonica andpiano .Though active in jazz since the early '50s, Rivers earned wider attention during the mid-'60s heyday of
free jazz . With a thorough command ofmusic theory ,orchestration and composition, critic Chris Kelsey [ [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifwxqy5ld0e~T1 allmusic ((( Sam Rivers > Biography ))) ] ] writes, "Rivers is as substantial a player as avant-garde jazz has produced."Early life
Rivers's father was a gospel musician who had sung with the
Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Silverstone Quartet, exposing Rivers to music from an early age. Rivers moved toBoston, Massachusetts in 1947, where he studied at theBoston Conservatory withAlan Hovhaness . He performed withQuincy Jones ,Herb Pomeroy ,Tadd Dameron and others.Blue Note era
In 1959 Rivers began performing with 13-year-old
drummer Tony Williams , who later went on to have an impressive career. Rivers did a brief stint withMiles Davis 's quintet in 1964, partly at Williams's recommendation. This quintet was recorded on a single album, "Miles in Tokyo." Unfortunately, Rivers' playing style was too free to be compatible with Davis's music at this point, and he was soon replaced byWayne Shorter . Rivers was signed byBlue Note Records , for whom he recorded four albums as leader and made several sideman appearances. Among noted sidemen on his own Blue Note Records wereJaki Byard who appears on "Fuchsia Swing Song",Herbie Hancock andFreddie Hubbard . He appeared on Blue Note recordings of Tony Williams,Andrew Hill andLarry Young .Rivers's music is rooted in
bebop , but he is an adventurous player, adept atfree jazz . The first of his Blue Note albums, "Fuchsia Swing Song", is widely regarded as a masterpiece of an approach sometimes called "inside-outside". The performer frequently obliterates the explicit harmonic framework ("going outside") but retains a hidden link so as to be able to return to it in a seamless fashion. Rivers brought the conceptual tools of bebop harmony to a new level in this process, united at all times with the ability to "tell a story" whichLester Young had laid down as a benchmark for the jazz improviser.His powers as a composer were also in evidence in this period: the ballad "Beatrice" from "Fuchsia Swing Song" has become an important standard, particularly for tenor saxophonists. It is analysed in detail in "The Jazz Theory Book" by Mark Levine who notes how each of its four eight-bar elements has a distinct emotional identity.
Loft era
During the 1970s, Rivers and his wife, Bea, ran a noted jazz performance loft called
Studio Rivbea inNew York City 'sNoHo district. He continued to record for a variety of labels, including several albums for Impulse! ("Streams", recorded live at Montreux, "Hues" - both recores contain different trio performances later collated on CD as "Trio Live" - the quartet album "Sizzle" and his first big-band disc, "Crystals"); perhaps his best-known work from this period, though, is his appearance onDave Holland 's "Conference of the Birds", in the company ofAnthony Braxton andBarry Altschul .Recently
Rivers currently lives near
Orlando, Florida . He performs regularly with his Orchestra and Trio (with Doug Matthews and Rion Smith). In 1998 he recorded two big-band albums for RCA Victor with the RivBea All-Star Orchestra, "Culmination" and "Inspiration" (the title-track is an elaborate reworking ofDizzy Gillespie 's "Tanga": Rivers was in Gillespie's band near the end of the trumpeter's life). Other recent albums of note include "Portrait", a solo recording for FMP, and "Vista", a trio with drummers Adam Rudolph and Harris Eisenstadt for Meta.In 2006, he released "Aurora", a third CD featuring compositions for his Rivbea Orchestra and the first CD featuring members of his working orchestra in Orlando.
Sam Rivers and the RivBea Orchestra are currently recording several new compositions at Sonic Cauldron Studios in Winter Springs, FL.
Discography
As leader
*"Fuchsia Swing Song",
Blue Note Records 1964.
*"Contours",Blue Note Records 1965.
*"Dimensions & Extensions",Blue Note Records 1967.
*"Crystals", a large ensemble work,Impulse! Records , 1974.
*"Streams" (live at theMontreux Jazz Festival ),Impulse! Records , 1973
*"Involution" (1967 Sam Rivers Sextet session plus 1967 session as sideman with theAndrew Hill Quartet),Blue Note Records , 1975.
*"Sam Rivers/Dave Holland , Vol. 1," Improvising Artists, 1976.
*"Sam Rivers/Dave Holland, Vol. 2," Improvising Artists, 1976.
*"Sizzle",ABC Records , 1976.
*"Waves", Tomato, 1978.
*"Contrasts", ECM 1162, 1980.
*"Crosscurrent," Blue Marge 1005, 1981.
*"Inspiration", RCA Victor, 1999.As sideman
*"Torque" — Brian Groder with Sam Rivers Trio, 2007
*"Diaspora Blues" --Steven Bernstein with Sam Rivers Trio, Tzadik, 2002.
*"Black Stars", with Jason Moran, Blue Note Records, 2001.
*"Tangens" ,withAlexander von Schlippenbach ,FMP ,1998
*"In the Name of...", with Music Revelation Ensemble, DIW, 1993.
*"Conference Of The Birds", with theDave Holland Quartet,ECM Records , 1973.
*"The Great Concert," withCecil Taylor , Prestige, 1969.
*"Change," withAndrew Hill ,Blue Note Records , 1966
*"Dialogue" withBobby Hutcherson ,Blue Note Records , 1965.
*"Spring," withTony Williams , Blue Note Records, 1965.
*"Life Time," with Tony Williams, Blue Note Records, 1964.
*"Miles in Tokyo" --under leadership of Miles Davis, Columbia, 1964.
*"Into Somethin", with Larry Young, Blue Note Records, 1964.References
External links
* [http://www.rivbea.com/ Sam Rivers Web Site]
* [http://bb10k.com/RIVERS.disc.html The Sam Rivers Sessionography and Gigography]
* [http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/jalc/chats/rivers2.html Jazz at Lincoln Center - Chat With Sam Rivers]
* [http://www.fmp-label.de/freemusicproduction/musiker/rivers.html FMP Releases]
* [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=1867 High Octane Octogenerian]
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