Undulation
Live album by
Sam Rivers Quartet
Released2021
RecordedMay 17, 1981
VenueFlorence, Italy
GenreFree jazz
Length1:11:55
LabelNoBusiness
NBCD 146
ProducerDanas Mikailionis, Ed Hazell, Valerij Anosov
Sam Rivers chronology
Braids
(2020)		 Undulation
(2021)		 Caldera
(2022)

Undulation is a live album by the Sam Rivers Quartet, led by multi-instrumentalist and composer Rivers, and featuring guitarist Jerry Byrd, bass guitarist Rael-Wesley Grant, and drummer Steve Ellington. Consisting of a single performance lasting over an hour, it was recorded on May 17, 1981, in Florence, Italy, and was released in 2021 by NoBusiness Records as volume 5 of the Sam Rivers Archive Series.[1][2][3][4]

The Rivers Quartet with this lineup also appeared on Crosscurrent: Live at Jazz Unité (Blue Marge, 1981 [1982]).[5] Undulation is based on material selected from Rivers' massive recorded archives, which are curated by writer and producer Ed Hazell, who spent a year reviewing tapes with the goal of choosing the best recordings for release by NoBusiness Records.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz[7]
All About Jazz[8]
The Free Jazz Collective[9]
Tom Hull – on the WebA–[10]

In a review for All About Jazz, John Sharpe wrote: "What the set achieves is to showcase Rivers' enormous range and prowess in free flowing dialogue... Rivers is an important figure in the history of the music and this valuable release helps fills in some of the blanks in a somewhat neglected mid-career period."[7] AAJ's John Eyles stated: "the album is full of variety, with all four players having ample time to solo, their solos being integrated into the overall flow of the music, so never sounding bolted-on or routine... To date, all volumes of this series have been so impressive that the notion of selecting a 'best' one has been laughable. Undulations maintains that run and re-emphasises the quality of them all."[8]

David Grundy of Point of Departure commented: "We can... be glad that the Lithuanian label continues to do such sterling work: Undulation is ample evidence of Rivers' power, present on virtually anything he touched, and an important documentation of a little-known chapter of his work."[11]

Writing for The New York City Jazz Record, George Kanzler suggested that the album demonstrates the fact that "Rivers can... be described as inside-outside, never a completely free player, often circling back to the forms of bebop: extended chord changes, elaborations of pop song melodies... [he] veers from free blowing largely to a strong suggestion of tunes and chord changes."[12]

Dusted Magazine's Derek Taylor remarked: "Rivers really digs into the grooves drafted by his colleagues and brings a sustained level of energy and incisiveness that in turn inspires them. The music is sequenced and titled to make access to shifts in instrumentation instant if desired."[13]

Bruce Lee Gallanter of the Downtown Music Gallery wrote: "The quartet is in fine form here, sprawling, free, intense, just the way all or most of Rivers' previous (and future) trios/quartets always were/are... [a] jubilant feeling runs throughout this entire set & disc so why not join in and go along for the ride. OUT-standing as always!"[14]

The Free Jazz Collective's Tom Burris noted "the intensity and fascinating interplay between the musicians," and stated: "Hard to describe how intense this collaboration gets without it sounding like superlative overkill, so I'll just say WOW... One of the best sets in the box, for sure."[9]

Track listing

Composed by Sam Rivers.

  1. "Tenor saxophone section I" – 11:17
  2. "Tenor saxophone solo" – 4:26
  3. "Tenor saxophone section II" – 5:37
  4. "Drum solo" – 8:14
  5. "Piano solo" – 5:52
  6. "Piano section I" – 4:21
  7. "Piano section II" – 6:19
  8. "Guitar solo" – 5:25
  9. "Flute section I" – 4:53
  10. "Flute solo" – 4:08
  11. "Flute section II" – 2:07
  12. "Bass solo" – 5:21
  13. "Flute section III" – 4:55

Personnel

  • Sam Rivers – tenor saxophone, flute, piano
  • Jerry Byrd – guitar
  • Rael-Wesley Grant – electric bass guitar
  • Steve Ellington – drums

References

  1. ↑ "Sam Rivers - Undulation". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  2. ↑ Lopez, Rick. "The Sam Rivers Sessionography". Bb10k. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Archive Series Volume 5 - Undulation". NoBusiness Records. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Sam Rivers discography". JazzLists. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Sam Rivers: Crosscurrent". Jazz Music Archives. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  6. ↑ Lorge, Suzanne (August 9, 2019). "Cultivating the Legacy of Sam Rivers". DownBeat. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  7. 1 2 Sharpe, John (November 23, 2021). "Sam Rivers: Undulation". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Eyles, John (September 13, 2021). "Sam Rivers: Undulation". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  9. 1 2 Burris, Tom (February 10, 2023). "Sam Rivers Archive Series". The Free Jazz Collective. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  10. ↑ Hull, Tom (September 6, 2021). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  11. ↑ Grundy, David. "Moment's Notice: Reviews of Recent Media". Point of Departure. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  12. ↑ Kanzler, George (December 2021). "Reviews". The New York City Jazz Record. p. 29.
  13. ↑ Taylor, Derek (September 14, 2021). "Sam Rivers Quartet – Undulation (No Business)". Dusted. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  14. ↑ Gallanter, Bruce Lee (August 27, 2021). "DMG Newsletter". The Downtown Music Gallery. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
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