Home » Jazz Musicians » Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930.
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 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.
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.
During the 1970s, 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 two albums for Impulse! (Trio Live and his first big- band disc, Crystals); perhaps his best-known work from this period, though, is his sideman appearance on Dave Holland's Conference of the Birds, in the company of Anthony Braxton and Barry Altschul.
Read moreTags
Sam Rivers Centennial + New John Zorn Works
by David Brown
For this week's show, we celebrate the centennial of the birth of composer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers; along the way we'll here a short vocal set and some recent releases from John Zorn. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club--Complete (Columbia) 01:50 Helen Merrill, Clifford Brown “Hush Now Don't Explain" from Hellen Merrill (Jazz Images) 02:30 Mal Waldron “Hush Now Don't Explain" from Mal 2 (Orignnal Jazz Classics) 05:13 Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra ...
Continue ReadingThe Sam Rivers Sessionography: A Work in Progress
by Mike Chamberlain
The Sam Rivers Sessionography: A Work in Progress Rick Lopez 768 Pages ISBN: # 9 780578 948713 The Vortex2022 Twenty-five years in the making, Rick Lopez's 768-page opus The Sam Rivers Sessionography: A Work in Progress is a dizzying, stunning achievement of research and scholarship that stands as a one-of-a-kind standard for a genre that Lopez has practically invented by himself, starting with his previous William Parker sessionography (in print), and his online ...
Continue ReadingSam Rivers: Caldera
by John Sharpe
Caldera constitutes an impressive final entry in the Lithuanian NoBusiness imprint's Sam Rivers Archive Project. It showcases the legendary multi-instrumentalist's longstanding trio with bassist Doug Matthews and drummer Anthony Cole, which he established two years after his relocation from New York to Florida in 1991 and which remained active until 2006. During its existence, the outfit made three albums, of which the pick is Firestorm (Rivbea, 1998). The threesome provided arguably one of the most empathetic settings ...
Continue ReadingSam Rivers Trio: Caldera
by Mark Corroto
With all proper respect to Sam Rivers' '70s trio with Dave Holland and Barry Altschul, his working band from 1993 to 2006 with bassist Doug Mathews and drummer Anthony Cole is a superior ensemble. NoBusiness Records continues their Sam Rivers Archive Project with their sixth release Caldera. The label has culled music from Rivers' performances from as early as 1971 to this latest live performance, in 2002, captured in New Orleans. In the '60s Rivers found himself smack ...
Continue ReadingTony Williams: Life Time & Spring Revisited
by Maurizio Comandini
Tony Williams è uno dei più importanti batteristi della storia. Non solo del jazz, ma della musica in generale. Solitamente questa considerazione, ampiamente condivisa, fa riferimento alla sua lunga esperienza come batterista dei quintetti di Miles Davis della seconda metà degli anni sessanta ed eventualmente al suo ruolo di leader del gruppo Tony Williams Lifetime nato nel 1969 e durato un paio d'anni. Due contesti di assoluta eccellenza che quindi giustificano il giudizio dal quale siamo partiti. Questa ottima ristampa ...
Continue ReadingAnthony Williams: Life Time & Spring Revisited
by Chris May
Drummer Tony Williams' first two albums as leader, recorded for Blue Note in 1964 and 1965--Life Time when he was only eighteen years old, Spring when he was nineteen--still sound delightfully fresh all these years after their original release. At the time he made them, Williams was a rising star with Miles Davis' second and third quintets, the first a short-lived unit with saxophonist George Coleman, the second a longer lasting one with Wayne Shorter. One of ...
Continue ReadingSam Rivers: Undulation
by John Sharpe
Sam Rivers, who died in 2011, was one of the luminaries of the avant-garde, a Blue Note artist who played not only with Miles Davis and Cecil Taylor, but also Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday. He lead his own groups for much of his life but also found time to run one of New York's premier lofts during the 1970s. In cooperation with his estate, NoBusiness Records has been digging into his archives, unearthing exceptional unissued live recordings of which ...
Continue ReadingJazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today!
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947, ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today!
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947, ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today!
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947, ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today!
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947... ...
read more
NoBusiness Records Begins Sam Rivers Archive Series With A Previously Unreleased Trio Recording From 1971
Source:
NoBusiness Records
NoBusiness Records launches its Sam Rivers Archive Series with Emanation (NBCD 118), a previously unreleased performance by the Sam Rivers trio featuring bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Norman Connors recorded at Boston’s Jazz Workshop in 1971. Produced with the full cooperation of the late composer-improviser’s daughter, Monique Rivers Williams, and the Sam Rivers Estate, the series will consist of eight CDs of music selected from Rivers’ enormous personal archive released over the next four years. Future albums will include new ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today!
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947... ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today!
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947... ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today!
Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947... ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today! Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947... ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Sam Rivers
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Sam Rivers' birthday today! Samuel Carthorne Rivers (born September 25, 1923, El Reno, Oklahoma) is a jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, and piano. Rivers was previously thought to have been born in 1930. 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 to Boston, Massachusetts in 1947... ...
read more
David Manson
trombone
Jorge Sylvester
saxophone, alto
Ike Levin
saxophone, tenor
David Borgo
saxophone
Joseph Daley
tuba
Joseph Daley Earth Tones Ensemble
composer / conductor
Geoff Mason
trombone
Daniel Jordan
saxophone, tenor
Rex Shepherd
guitar, electric
Adam Nolan
saxophone
Alireza Kohany
arranger
Andrew Ginzel
guitar, electricPhotos
Music
Videos
Similar
Pat Metheny
guitar
John Coltrane
saxophone
Charles Mingus
bass, acoustic
Sonny Rollins
saxophone
Anthony Braxton
woodwinds
Eric Dolphy
woodwinds
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto
Bobby Hutcherson
vibraphone
Cecil Taylor
piano
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
woodwinds
Andrew Hill
piano
Albert Ayler
saxophone, tenor
Ike Quebec
saxophone, tenor
Joe McPhee
woodwinds
David S. Ware
saxophone, tenor
Muhal Richard Abrams
piano
Sam Rivers
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Born: September 25, 1923
Died: December 26, 2011
