Sam Rivers: Contours (Tone Poet series) [BLUE NOTE]

Why you'll love it

This Tone Poet edition is mastered from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl in a gatefold jacket. AllMusic calls Contours one of the high watermarks of the mid-60s avant-garde.

This edition

• Tone Poet series
• 180g vinyl
• Gatefold jacket
• Mastered from the original analog tapes
• Stereo mix

About the album

Sam Rivers had a knack for being in the right band at the right moment, including a stint with Miles Davis, but on his own records he went exploring. Contours, his second album as a leader, was cut at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs on May 21, 1965, with Alfred Lion producing.

The line-up is staggering: Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass and Joe Chambers on drums, with Rivers switching between tenor, soprano and flute. "Point Of Many Returns" darts between free playing and tight bop, "Dance Of The Tripedal" skips along with a sly bounce, "Euterpe" turns lyrical, and "Mellifluous Cacaphony" closes at full tilt. Hancock and Carter were both in Miles Davis's quintet at the time, and they sound right at home out on the edges.

Rivers wrote all four pieces, each running around ten minutes. Hard bop fans can come in through the front door here and find the avant-garde waiting politely in the next room with the kettle on.

Also at Kops: more Sam Rivers on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Blue Note (cat# B0029413-01), a reissue of the 1965 album.