Jazz Articles about Sam Rivers

Sam Rivers/Ben Street/Kresten Osgood: Violet Violets

by Annika Westman
November 16, 2005

Since this group's first CD was called Purple Violets, what would be more appropriately redundant than naming the sequel Violet Violets? The legendary Sam Rivers did it again--actually both CD's are a result of the same great session, and this is another one without a dull moment. The lineup is the same, except vibraphonist Bryan Carrott is not featured on these tracks.

The young and very talented Danish drummer Kresten Osgood suggested this project to the Danish Stunt jazz label. ...

Sam Rivers/Ben Street/Kresten Osgood/Bryan Carrott: Purple Violets

by Rex Butters
August 9, 2005

Sam Rivers has the energy of an old Taoist master. On his infrequent trips to Los Angeles, he's relaxed after gigs by mixing it up with local musicians all night long. One such after hours session resulted in Vista, with Adam Rudolph and Harris Eisenstadt. A night in Denmark resulted in Purple Violets, a collection of duets, trios, and quartets featuring Ben Street on bass, Kresten Osgood on drums, and occasionally Bryan Carrott on vibes. Rivers runs in good company--his ...

Sam Rivers: Contours

by Germein Linares
March 3, 2005

After his Blue Note debut on Fuchsia Swing Song, saxophonist Sam Rivers drifted further “out" on Contours. Reissued as a limited edition connoisseur series CD, this '65 Blue Note outing sparkles anew with 24-bit remastered sound. Playing with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Joe Chambers, Rivers performs four of his more accessible and vigorous compositions. “Point of Many Returns," with its slackened hard bop structure, starts the album with Rivers, Hubbard, and Hancock reinforcing ...

Sam Rivers: A Giant Among Us

by Marc Minsker
January 17, 2005

[Originally published in the South Carolina Free Times in February 2002] It's been said that jazz is dead.Scores of notable jazz critics have made the claim that jazz, an art form that relies heavily upon change and improvisation, must continue to progress if it is to live and prosper. If the music cannot “constantly reinvent itself," as Ed Bland argues in his 1958 film The Cry of Jazz, then “it will die." Even Wynton Marsalis, the ...

Sam Rivers: Contours

by John Kelman
December 8, 2004

Unlike pianist Andrew Hill, who, late in life, is finally being awarded the accolades he deserves, saxophonist/flautist Sam Rivers never received his proper due and continues to work in relative obscurity. Sure, his name is known amongst those who know, but mention him to casual jazz listeners and most will go “Sam who?" or perhaps, with the recent release of the Miles Davis Seven Steps box, “Oh yeah, the guy who played with Miles for one tour and then got ...

Miles Davis - Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1963-1964

by Colin Fleming
September 22, 2004

Seven Steps : Review #1 | Review #2 | Review #3 | Discuss | Poll

Miles Davis Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Miles Davis, 1963-1964 Columbia Legacy 2004

One of the more undervalued phases in Miles Davis' career, the years 1963-64 are typically deemed a fallow period, marked by a few mildly inventive studio creations and scattershot radio broadcasts. Davis' transformations were often stylistic, but this collection puts the bulk ...

Miles Davis - Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1963-1964

by Jim Santella
September 22, 2004

Seven Steps : Review #1 | Review #2 | Review #3 | Discuss | Poll

Miles Davis Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Miles Davis, 1963-1964 Columbia Legacy 2004

Seven discs paint a pretty good picture of the sound that Miles Davis gave us back then.

Some of the master's mid-'60s material has not been previously issued. As had been the case time and again, the Miles ...