Rivers / Holland / Altschul

Reunion: Live in New York [2 CDs]

Label: Pi Recordings Country: USA

"A historically important new release, Sam Rivers "Live at Miller Theater" features the reunion of octogenarian saxophonist /flutist/pianist Rivers with his groundbreaking trio of two-time Grammy Award winner Dave Holland on bass and Barry Altschul on drums. The venerated band was a mainstay at Rivers' Studio RivBea -- the most famous venue during the "loft jazz" movement of the 1970s -- and was well-known for its marathon fully -improvised concerts. Their powerful rapport gives no hint of the fact that they had not played together in 25 years when this concert took place in 2007.

Rivers played with such disparate musicians as Miles Davis, T -Bone Walker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Cecil Taylor in a musical career that spanned over 50 years. He is best known for his heralded albums on Blue Note and Impulse! of the 1960s and 1970s and two Grammy-nominated big band recordings for RCA. The Rivers /Holland/Altschul trio, though revered in jazz circles, recorded rarely and those out of print records are highly sought after by collectors. Unfortunately, Rivers did not live to see the release of this CD; he passed away on December 26, 2011."-Pi Recordings