EAR-UP! WITH JOHN PARKS
Sam Rivers: A Melodically Fluid Hip Cat
Multi- instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader Sam Rivers died of pneumonia the day after Christmas December 26, 2011. Rivers was 88. His main instrument was the saxophone, but also played the flute, piano and the soprano. He grew up in Chicago and studied the violin, piano and trombone. In 1947 he went to the Boston Conservatory of Music and eventually went to Boston University and majored in composition. He inherited his musical talent from his family. His father, Samuel Rivers, was a gospel singer, his mother, Lillian, was a pianist and choir director. In 1882 his mother’s father, Marshall W. Taylor, published A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies, for black congregations.
Rivers career includes a brief stint in the Miles Davis Quintet on the 1964 album Miles In Tokyo. The same year Rivers appeared on prodigy drummer Tony Williams’ first album Life Time. Williams was Miles’ drummer in his legendary Quintet. Rivers also cut his first album in 1964 Fuchsia Swing Song. Over the course of 60 years Rivers made 22 albums as a band leader although public recognition never equaled the level of attention given to John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Roland Kirk or Eric Dolphy for example. Nevertheless, jazz fans know and love his work and contribution to the music. His composition “Beatrice,” so named for his wife, which appears on his first album, is a jazz standard.
In the late 60’s Rivers moved into the free, avant-garde, fusion direction that some jazz musicians like Ornette Colman had taken. This led to the Studio Rivbea run by himself and his wife in New York in the East Village which became a gathering space for the avant-grade loft jazz scene of the 1970s. But avant-garde did not seem to be a stopping point on his musical journey. Instead it seemed to help nurture his sound and musical ideas and expression. After the Studio Rivbea closed in 1979 Rivers created the Rivbea Orchestra which generated a loyal following of fans. It also had a lasting influence on other musicians. For example while on tour with Dizzy Gillespie in 1991 in Orlando, Florida a group of local musicians persuaded Rivers to reorganize the Rivbea Orchestra which had become defunct by that time. The confluence of these events increased his exposure to new audiences while deepening the respect and admiration for him in the jazz world. In 2000 Jazz at Lincoln Center hosted a concert by the Rivbea Orchestra and in the following year Rivers appeared on pianist Jason Moran’s Black Stars album. Moran is the current artistic advisor for jazz at the Lincoln Center. The revival of the Rivbea Orchestra led to the 2011 release on Mosaic of Sam Rivers and the Rivbea Orchestra – Trilogy.
One might say that Sam Rivers has gone to join that all star big band in jazz heaven and that he will be missed, but not forgotten, most notably by his family and close friends. But as Sonny Rollins recently exclaimed jazz is a spirit that cannot die. Sam Rivers has certainly contributed to the lasting spirit of jazz. For me, Dexter Gordon’s version of “The Shadow of Your Smile” is always a fitting tribute. http://youtu.be/8PttNhYVY3c
Rivers had a soft tonal quality which he combined with a sensitive, intimate articulation of his phrasing and great breath control. If one had to sum up his sound it embodied the spiritual search found in Coltrane’s later work, the projection of Dexter Gordon with lyricism and the melodic story telling of Lester Young, Gene Ammons and Charlie Parker. Over all Rivers played with a melodic fluidity that can only be appreciated by listening more and saying less.
Hear a sampling of Sam Rivers:
Beatrice from Fuchsia Swing Song (1964)
“Beatrice” is a beautiful tune; simply beautiful. It captures the feeling of falling in love again; as if you could fly away with the one you love. Yeah! Sam is telling a love story about himself and his wife.
Sam Rivers and the Orlando Rivbea Orchestra! (2010)
Sam Rivers quartet - swirl
Sam Rivers, “Fuchsia Swing Song” title song from the album Fuchsia Swing Song (1964)
Sam Rivers’ Involution from the album Dimensions & Extensions (1967)
Sam Rivers Streams Part1(1)
Sam Rivers Streams Part2(1)
Max Roach with Sam Rivers = Hamburg 1984
Sam Rivers with Miles Davis, “My Funny Valentine” from the album Live in Tokyo (1964)
http://youtu.be/9SDncLIGLnI - “Talk ‘bout it!”
Same Rivers with Miles Davis, “If I Were A Bell” from the album Live in Tokyo (1964)
Sam Rivers with Tony Williams, Tomorrow Afternoon from the album Life Time (1964)
Sam Rivers with Jason Moran, “Gangsterism on a River” from the album Black Stars (2001)
