Inspiration
You might expect a big band led by a man born in the beginnings of the Swing Era to show some allegiance to that music. And Sam Rivers's Rivbea All-Star Orchestra does swing, but not with the usual conventions of the big band. Rivers's orchestrations are not based on cross-section writing and call and response, but on blocks and clusters of sound, which he sometimes moves in masses, sometimes in riff form, sometimes in collective bursts of free improvisations and long stretches for solo improvisation. There is a restlessness and tension about his writing that suggests an expansion of the small groups Rivers led in the lofts in New York in the 1970s. This one, too, is a New York band, with solos by trombonistsRay Anderson, Art Baron, and Joseph Bowie; trumpeters Baikida Carroll and Ralph Alessi; Bob Stewart on tuba; and saxophonistsGreg Osby,Chico Freeman,Gary Thomas,Hamiet Bluiett, and especiallySteve Coleman, among others. And Rivers himself is featured on soprano and tenor, sounding as fresh as ever. This is music of inclusion and openness, and represents a genuine contribution to big-band tradition--a tradition that is by no means completed.--John F. Szwed