New Sam Rivers!

[DTMX]

I'm on the Jazz Loft website last week and I do a search for "Sam Rivers" and it turns up a CD called Purple Violets. So I order it. Turns out that it's not a Sam Rivers release, but one by a Danish drummer named Kresten Osgood, recorded in October 2004. I don't know anything about this Osgood feller, but obviously he's doing something right to have Sam Rivers sitting in with him; here's his website.

My review:

Purple Violets, Catalog number: STUCD04162

Sam Rivers: Tenor & Soprano Sax, Flute

Ben Street: Bass

Kresten Osgood: Drums, Leader

Bryan Carrott: Vibes (only on tracks 1, 4, 7, and 9)

[1] Solace [2] The Mooche [3] Captain America [4] Abalone [5] In Search of Black Benny [6] Turbulence [7] Where To Go [8] Moderation [9] Space

(Total Time: 50 minutes)

The recording opens with Rivers' Solace, one of his more hummable tunes. The whole quartet plays on this, and takes the piece at a swinging tempo. Rivers turns in a great tenor sax solo, followed by Carrott soloing over an increasingly rambunctious rhythm section. Ellington's The Mooche follows, and is one of the five tunes performed only by the Rivers/Street/Osgood trio. Rivers plays soprano sax on this one, and with the lack of a chordal instrument, this track reminded me very much of the Steve Lacy Trio. A tart tenor opens the track Captain America, another trio performance, co-composed by the three participants, and a lot freer-sounding than the two proceding tracks.

Carrott rejoins on Abalone, an Osgood composition that wouldn't sound out of place on a Joe Chambers album. Rivers plays tenor on this one, as well as Osgood's In Search of Black Benny, a hard-charging, trio number. Bassist Street drops out on Turbulence, a Rivers/Osgood improv (I can hear a hint of one of Rivers' Trio tunes in there but I can't name the original). Osgood's Where To Go reunites the quartet for some relaxed playing, and some beautiful tenor work from Rivers. The trio-penned Moderation puts Rivers on flute; this (probably) improvised piece sounds like a return to Rivers' Impulse recording days. Rivers duets with Carrott on their collectively-penned Space; Carrott's vibes sound light and ethereal while Rivers' tenor keeps things a little more earthy.

A really good recording for the Sam Rivers completist. And the most exciting thing about it is the last sentence in the booklet: Purple Violets is the first part of a two-CD release.

Edited February 16, 2005 by DTMX

[relyles]

I have this CD I enjoyed it. My favorite tracks are those with Bryan Carrott, one of my favorite vibes players. He should be more well known and I think he has certainly eared a date as a leader.

Rivers sounds great on this release.