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Sam Rivers RIP


david weiss

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I was very fortunate to see him with the RivBea Orchestra just this past October in DeLand, Florida. He seemed very frail and he didn't play a lot but he still pulled off some great solos when he did play. The band was really great and it was definitely the live band highlight for me this past year.

RIP Sam --Thanks for all the great music!!!

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I had a weird thing going with my travels. I seemed to cross the paths of two musicians often, and several others rarely. The two that I had many opprtunties to see were Kenny G and Sam Rivers. I took advantage of those opportunities with Sam Rivers...to the point that he actually recognized me in large crowds. I'm grateful for all his music, live or through recordings. Nice guy.

(My apologies for the entirely too-loose use of the word "musician" with respect to Kenny G.)

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It's a testament to Sam that so many of us considered him a friend, even if our encounters were casual. I was a regular at Rivbea when I was 18-19, and it was like being a guest in Sam & Bea's home, which it was indeed. Sam was always warm and cordial, and had total integrity as an artist. I had the opportunity to chat with him about the Rivbea days at Iridium a few years back, and I was thrilled to see his reunion at Columbia with Holland and Altschul. I'm on the verge of tears, and only recently the death of Joe Lee Wilson, who I knew under similar circumstances, hit me just as hard. But Sam had an amazingly long and artistically successful career, and we're all richer for it.

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I saw Sam and his trio for the first and only time in concert about 6 or 7 years ago. It was a very good concert. While Sam would not be among the musicians I listen to often, I very much enjoy the Mosaic set, which I heard again not long ago. I'll have to listen to Miles in Tokyo later on today. RIP Sam Rivers and thank you.

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I own very few recordings by Mr. Rivers, but I enjoy what I've got. One of many I haven't gotten around to really collecting. It is heart-warming and refreshing to read that the man was not only an exceptional musician but a kind and charismatic person. Talk about leaving the proper legacy, it sounds like Sam was the type of person everyone should hope to be.

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