Sam Rivers
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2008-07-08T16:01:12Z
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{{dablink|See [[Sam Rivers (bass guitarist)]] or [[Limp Bizkit]] for the bass guitarist.}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| Name = Sam Rivers
| Img = Sam Rivers & Joe Daley.jpg
| 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]], [[United States|USA]]
| Instrument = [[Saxophone]]<br>[[Clarinet]]<br>[[Flute]]<br>[[Harmonica]]<br>[[Piano]]
| Voice_type =
| Genre = [[Avant-garde Jazz]]<br>[[Free jazz]]
| Occupation = [[Musician]]<br>[[Bandleader]]<br>[[Composer]]
| Years_active = [[1950]]s – Present
| Label = [[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]], [[RCA Records|RCA]], [[Impulse! Records|Impulse]], [[Stunt Records|Stunt]]
| Associated_acts = [[Quincy Jones]]<br>[[Miles Davis]]<br>[[Dizzy Gillespie]]<br>[[Bobby Hutcherson]]<br>[[Andrew Hill]]<br>[[Jimmy Lyons]]<br>[[Dave Holland]]
| URL = [http://www.rivbea.com/ Sam Rivers]
| Current_members =
| Past_members =
| Notable_instruments =
}}
'''Samuel Carthorne Rivers''' (born [[September 25]], [[1923]], in [[El Reno, Oklahoma]])<ref>http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifwxqy5ld0e~T1</ref> is an [[United States|American]] [[jazz]] musician and [[composer]]. He performs on soprano and tenor [[saxophone]]s, [[bass clarinet]], [[flute]], harmonica and [[piano]].
Though active in jazz since the early '50s, Rivers earned wider attention during the mid-'60s heyday of [[free jazz]]. With a thorough command of [[music theory]], [[orchestration]] and composition, critic Chris Kelsey<ref>http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:aifwxqy5ld0e~T1</ref> writes, "Rivers is as substantial a player as avant-garde jazz has produced."
== Early life ==
Rivers's father was a [[gospel music|gospel]] musician who had sung with the [[Fisk Jubilee Singers]] and the Silverstone Quartet, exposing Rivers to music from an early age. Rivers moved to [[Boston, Massachusetts]] in [[1947]], where he studied at the [[Boston Conservatory]] with [[Alan Hovhaness]]. He performed with [[Quincy 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 with [[Miles 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 by [[Wayne Shorter]]. Rivers was signed by [[Blue Note Records]], for whom he recorded four albums as leader and made several sideman appearances. Among noted sidemen on his own Blue Note Records were [[Jaki Byard]] who appears on ''Fuschia Swing Song'', [[Herbie Hancock]] and [[Freddie Hubbard]]. He appeared on Blue Note recordings of Tony Williams, [[Andrew Hill]] and [[Larry Young]].
Rivers's music is rooted in [[bebop]], but he is an adventurous player, adept at [[free 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" which [[Lester 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 [[1970]]s, Rivers and his wife, Bea, ran a noted jazz performance loft called [[Studio Rivbea]] in [[New York City]]'s [[NoHo]] 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 on [[Dave Holland]]'s ''[[Conference of the Birds (Dave Holland album)|Conference of the Birds]]'', in the company of [[Anthony Braxton]] and [[Barry Altschul]].
== Recently ==
[[Image:Sam Rivers 2007.jpg|thumb|left|150px|2007]]
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 of [[Dizzy 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==
[[Image:Sam Rivers 02232008.jpg|thumb|right]]
{{incomplete list}}
===As leader===
*''Fuchsia Swing Song'', [[Blue Note Records]] 1964.
*''Contours'', [[Blue Note Records]] 1965.
*''Crystals'', a large ensemble work, [[Impulse! Records]], 1974.
*''Sam Rivers/[[Dave Holland]], Vol. 1,'' Improvising Artists, 1976.
*''Sam Rivers/Dave Holland, Vol. 2,'' Improvising Artists, 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'' ,with [[ Alexander von Schlippenbach ]],FMP ,1998
*''In the Name of...'', with Music Revelation Ensemble, DIW, 1993.
*''Conference Of The Birds'', with the [[Dave Holland]] Quartet, [[ECM Records]], 1973.
*''The Great Concert,'' with [[Cecil Taylor]], Prestige, 1969.
*''Change,'' with [[Andrew Hill]], [[Blue Note Records]], 1966
*''[[Dialogue (Bobby Hutcherson)|Dialogue]]'' with [[Bobby Hutcherson]], [[Blue Note Records]], 1965.
*''Spring,'' with [[Tony 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 (jazz)| Larry Young]], Blue Note Records, 1964.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==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]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Sam}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:Bebop saxophonists]]
[[Category:Bebop clarinetists]]
[[Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American jazz composers]]
[[Category:American jazz clarinetists]]
[[Category:American jazz saxophonists]]
[[Category:Massachusetts musicians]]
[[Category:Miles Davis]]
[[Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Canadian County, Oklahoma]]
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