Jazz Articles about Sam Rivers

like 1,193

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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1963-1964

by John Kelman
September 22, 2004

Eagerly anticipated, Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963-1964 documents the emergence of Miles' second great quintet, featuring saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. It demonstrates, over the course of seven discs and seven hours, how critical each member of that quintet was. As the group coalesces over a period of two years it's tangible how everything falls into place, like a set of tumblers on a complicated lock.

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Sam Rivers: Contrasts

by C. Andrew Hovan
February 16, 2004

As an icon of creative endeavors, the ECM label is world renown for its releases by such heavyweights as Dave Holland, Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, and Jack DeJohnette, to name just a few. Probably much less acknowledged however are those little trinkets of musical pleasure that have fallen through the cracks over the years, several of which also happen to be unavailable on compact disc. In this latter category belongs one of the last major label releases that saxophonist Sam ...

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Sam Rivers: Fuschia Swing Song

by David Vance
January 19, 2004

1964 was an important year for the jazz saxophone. John Coltrane recorded the seminal A Love Supreme and Eric Dolphy made Out to Lunch, a masterpiece of the early jazz avant-garde.

With that in mind, it’s not as surprising as it is unfortunate that saxophonist Sam Rivers’ debut Fuchsia Swing Song doesn’t get much press. Rivers went on to become one of the most original and important saxophone voices after Coltrane, but in 1964, he was virtually unknown and had ...