Sam Rivers

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Sam Rivers describes himself as having been "born on tour" in Oklahoma, since both his parents were musicians, and as having "always been a musician". After growing up in Chicago, he moved to Boston for formal study at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition with Alan Hovaness, and at Boston University.

The list of musicians with whom Rivers has played includes almost everybody of significance in jazz. Some of the longer associations included those with T-Bone Walker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Cecil Taylor, Tony Williams, and Herbie Hancock. "I learned so much about how to write and present from Miles," Rivers notes, "he was so precise and disciplined, such a perfectionist." His numerous recordings as a sideman include Miles in Tokyo (Columbia) with Miles Davis and Spring (Blue Note) with Tony Williams, as well as the Postcards recordings with Reggie Workman and with Bruce Ditmas (What If 1995).

Rivers has been playing with his own groups since the '40s -- mostly quartets and big bands. These groups included such musicians as Dave Holland, Chico Freeman, Steve Coleman, Kevin and Robin Eubanks, Don Pullen, George Adams and Cecil McBee. Some of the many recordings he has made as a leader are Fuschia Swing Song (Blue Note), Dimensions & Extensions (Blue Note), two co-leader recordings with Dave Holland, Waves , and the Rivbea Orchestra's Evocation Suite.

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