The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Sam Rivers Trio 
  Archive Series. Volume 6 - Caldera
  (NoBusiness Records) 


  
   review by John Eyles
  2022-06-28
Sam Rivers Trio: Archive Series. Volume 6 - Caldera (NoBusiness Records)

Caldera is the sixth volume of the NoBusiness label's Sam Rivers Archive Project which began in 2019 with Emanation. Like the rest of the series, Caldera comprises live recordings which are not reissues but are being released for the first time. Where past volumes have featured concerts dating from 1971 through to 1981, Caldera leaps ahead two decades, having been recorded on March 9th 2002 at Freeport-McMoRan Theatre, Contemporary Arts Centre, New Orleans; the first six tracks are from the first set, the last two from the second.

As so often, Rivers plays tenor and soprano saxophones, flute and piano plus voice. He is joined by two players who are just as versatile, Doug Mathews on upright and electric basses as well as bass clarinet, and Anthony Cole on drums, tenor saxophone and piano. Formed in 1993, this trio was together until 2006, thus making it Rivers' longest-lasting small group of his career; this trio previously released the 1996 studio-recorded album Concept (Rivbea, 1997) and the 2000 live recordings Firestorm (Rivbea, 2002)

Caldera's eight tracks together play for seventy-one minutes, with the three longest tracks — each entitled "Improvisation" plus a number — accounting for two-thirds of that time. Despite the length of the trio's improvisations, it is noteworthy that Rivers' freely improvised saxophone solos do not run for as long as they once did, as heard on earlier volumes of this series; by way of explanation, it may be worth noting that Rivers was seventy-eight when this album was recorded. Nonetheless, while he may have lost in quantity, he retained or even improved in quality. That is particularly true of his flute and piano playing, with "Improvisation I", which opens the album, being noteworthy as Rivers and Cole play pianos simultaneously, to thrilling effect.

While all six volumes of Sam Rivers Archive Project are essential, this sixth volume seems likely to reveal facets of Rivers' music that may not be familiar to all his devotees. Strongly recommended.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Sifter (
w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake/
Fracture
(Queen Bee Records)



Jean-Marc Foussat:
Abbatage
(Fou Records)



Chester Hawkins:
Apsis
(Intangible Arts)



Jean-Jacques Avenel/
Daunik Lazro:
Duo
(Fou Records)



Karl Evangelista's
Apura + Andrew Cyrille:
Bukas
(577 Records)



Frode Gjerstad/
Alexander von Schlippenbach/
Dag Magnus Narvesen:
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)



Georg Graewe/
Brad Jones/
Hamid Drake:
More Than Anything
(Random Acoustics)



Kaze (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Orins/
Pruvost) with/ Koichi Makigami:
Shishiodoshi
(Circum-Libra)



Koenjihyakkei:
Live at Club Goodman
[2 CDs]
(Skin Graft)



Sun Ra:
Sleeping Beauty
[VINYL]
(STRUT)



Earle Brown/
David Ryan/
Christian Wolff/
Morton Feldman/
Thanos Chrysakis/
Tim Hodgkinson:
Music for Guitars,
Bass Clarinets &
Contrabasses
(Aural Terrains)



Joe McPhee & Strings (
w/ Maneri/
Lonberg-Holm/
Bisio):
We Know Why
The Caged Bird Sings
(RogueArt)



Nakatani Gong Orchestra:
NGO, Live in Ojai,
California
[VINYL GOLD]
(Weird Cry Records)



Mats Gustafsson/
Ken Vandermark/
Tomeka Reid/
Chad Taylor:
Pivot
(Silkheart)



Lance Olsen Austin:
Death in
the Urban Jungle
(Confront)



John Butcher/
Phil Durrant/
Mark Wastell:
Poznan:
Appropriate Density
(Confront)



Kassel Jaeger:
Fernweh
[VINYL 2 LPs]
(Black Truffle)



Marteau Rouge (
Foussat/
Pauvros/
Sato)/
Evan Parker:
Gift
(Fou Records)



Sun Ra:
Nuits de
la Fondation Maeght
[4 CD BOX SET]
(STRUT)



John Zorn (
Hashimoto/
Gosling/
Smith/
Roeder/
Mori):
Fantasma (
Illusions From
A Surrealist Mirror)
(Tzadik)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (20906)