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- Date Released: May 16, 2000
- Genre: Jazz
- Label: RCA Victor
- Copyright: (P) 1999 BMG France SA
A good place to start a love affair with Sam Rivers
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We Say...
Sam Rivers makes rhinos pirouette and rainbows melt into sound on this phenomenal outing with a 17-piece band that, with the exception of bassist Doug Matthews, has no strings attached. No guitars, no pianos, just ten brass, five reeds, bass and drums. Appropriately named the RivBea All-Star Orchestra, it boasts the likes of saxophonists Greg Osby, Hamiett Bluiett, Chico Freeman and Steve Coleman, trombonists Ray Anderson and Joseph Bowie and — well, every instrumentalist but bassist and drummer are distinguished enough to have discs released under their own names.
Culmination is taken from the same September 1998 session that spawned Inspiration, Rivers' first big band date since the 64-piece leviathan behind Crystals a quarter-century before in 1974. But where Inspiration tries to cram pieces Rivers envisioned as 50-minute opuses into less than a third that length, Culmination's eight songs are right-sized between 5:53 and 12:39.
You can hear the compositional ramp Rivers has built to make his music, specifically his essential voicings for horns. There are the creamy tones and buoyant bustle of the swing era, some Mingusian and Ellingtonian chromatic harmonies, some Ornettish atonality, and healthy dollops of funk and blues. "Spectrum" is an itchy, edgy opener (and in fact is a near doppelganger to the lead track on Inspiration) and like nearly every track contains a treasure trove of solos, the best which sounds like a rippling waterfall of notes from Ray Anderson (a guess, since sadly there is no attribution for solos). "Bubbles" is a jaunty, multiphonic stew led by Bluiett on bari sax; the vamp-suffused title track is one of the most accessible atonal big band pieces imaginable; and "Ripples" harkens back to Rivers' fondness for the between-wars big band era, with his special sauce added. "Neptune" mates the funky bop of Dizzy Gillespie with Ornette's glancing approach to tone, and "Riffin'" swings mightily — especially the altos and trumpets — on one chord. Despite its title, Culmination is as good a place as any to start a love affair with Sam Rivers. -
They Say...
Sam Rivers' second recording with his Rivbea All-Star Orchestra for RCA is similar to his first one in that he uses an impressive 17-piece band full of top avant-gardists to interpret the dense arrangements of his originals. The music, which is frequently atonal, has so much going on at times that it will take several listens to comprehend everything; it certainly does not lose one's interest! The only fault to this stimulating set is that the soloists are not identified. Although one may recognize the various saxophonists (Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, Chico Freeman, Gary Thomas, and Hamiet Blueitt) and trombonist Ray Anderson, most of the brass players will be more difficult to determine. This very adventurous music is remarkable in ways and well worth acquiring by free jazz collectors.
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07 Total Tracks, 59:35 Total Length
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Credits
- Ray Anderson - Trombone // Hamiet Bluiett - Sax (Baritone) // Hamiet Bluiett - Sax (Baritone) // Steve Coleman - Producer // Chico Freeman - Sax (Tenor) // Chico Freeman - Sax (Tenor) // Greg Osby - Sax (Alto) // Baikida Carroll - Trumpet // Ralph Alessi - Trumpet // Ralph Alessi - Trumpet // Art Baron - Trombone // Joseph Bowie - Trombone // Anthony Cole - Drums // Joseph Daley - Horn (Baritone) // Doug Matthews - Bass // James Zollar - Trumpet // Joseph Marciano - Engineer
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Other Details
- Instruments:
- Trombone //
- Trumpet //
- Bass (Vocal) //
- Drums //
- Saxophone //
- Sax (Alto) //
- Sax (Baritone) //
- Sax (Soprano) //
- Sax (Tenor)
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