Died On This Date (December 26, 2011) Sam Rivers / American Jazz Saxophonist
themusicsover Sam Rivers
September 25, 1923 – December 26, 2011
Sam Rivers is best remembered as the influential jazz saxophonist and composer who helped define the Free Jazz movement of the mid to late ’60s. Born into a musical family, Rivers began playing at an early age. After studying at the Boston Conservatory, Rivers went on to be an in-demand sideman, playing with the likes of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Freddie Hubbard. As a band leader, Rivers released several highly regarded albums on such storied labels as Impulse! and Blue Note. His tune, “Beatrice” from 1964’s Fuchsia Swing Song is widely regarded as tenor sax 101 for aspiring players. During the ’70s, Rivers and his wife owned and operated a jazz performance studio in New York City. He continued to perform and record until as recently as 2006’s Aurora. Sam Rivers was 88 when he died of pneumonia on December 26, 2011.
Thanks to Paul Bearer for the assist.
What You Should Own
![Dimensions & Extensions (Rudy Van Gelder Edition) [Remastered] - Sam Rivers](https://i0.wp.com/ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/images/web/linkmaker/badge_itunes-lrg.gif?w=640){kind=icon}
Eddie Higgins was a respected jazz pianist who came to prominence while entertaining crowds in jazz clubs throughout Chicago during the ’50s and ’60s. It has been said that many headlining acts did not want to take the stage after Higgins brilliantly warmed up the crowd. Although known primarily as a soloist, Higgins has played with such jazz giants as 
Freddie Hubbard was a respected jazz trumpeter who was one of the leading players of the bop, be-bop and post-bop styles that became popular in the 1960s. Besides having his own celebrated albums on Blue Note and CTI Records, Hubbard played on classic recordings by the likes of 
Art Blakey was a drummer and band leader whose Jazz Messengers, a band he led for an astonishing thirty years, was the onetime home of such future legends as Horace Silver, Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, 