During the mid '60's, saxophonist Sam Rivers made a brief appearance as one of the potential leading lights of the new music that had sprung up in New York City. He had already briefly played in Miles Davis's quintet, serving as the bridge tenor player between George Coleman and Wayne Shorter. Sam had also started recording on Blue Note and was gaining a reputation as one of the significant post-Coltrane saxophonists.

Rivers'playing never broke through to a mainstream jazz audience however. After opening the legendary jazz performance loft Studio Rivbea with his wife Beatrice in lower Manhattan, he became a kind of cult figure, acquiring status among fellow musicians, but not widespread fame.

It's possible that his musical language was too idiosyncratic. Maybe it was that he didn't confine himself to one or two instruments, instead playing tenor, soprano, flute and, later, piano.

But it may have been that, prior to Fluid Motion, no recording engineer ever successfully reproduced Rivers's sound.

Recorded at the Springs Studio in Tampa, Florida, engineer John Stephan used a unique miking system that accurately captures Rivers 'tone (here confined to tenor and soprano) in all its richness and complexity. Additionally the live room… read more »