Sam Rivers: Avant-garde jazz master to perform at University of Miami’s Frost School of Music

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Sam Rivers is no ordinary snowbird, although he was looking to escape wintry Northern climes when he dropped anchor in Orlando in 1991.

Long considered a giant of avant-garde jazz, the saxophonist, flutist, pianist and composer had recorded a string of adventurous, milestone albums for the Blue Note and Impulse labels; toured with the bands of Miles Davis and Cecil Taylor; and kickstarted the experimental loft-scene in New York City with his free-jazz laboratory Studio Rivbea.

But Rivers had no plans to retire. He found a font of great local players, who were eager to stretch, among the musicians on the Disney dole as well as on the faculty at the University of Central Florida. Utilizing his regular trio mates as the free-swinging rhythm section, Rivers formed the Rivbea Orchestra to play his swirling, color-filled compositions and arrangements.

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