Rivers, Sam / Rudolph, Adam / Eisenstadt, Harris – “Vista ” – [Meta]

Max Level   3/10/2007   CD, Jazz

Rivers has long been a strong and important free jazz voice on flute/sax, able to carry a group’s entire melodic component single-handedly as he does here, working with two drummer/ percussionists. He spins out one inventive line after another, directing each piece’s tonality and cutting through the relentless waves of drums/percussion supplied by Rudolph and Eisenstadt, who together sound like one enormous ten-armed drummer. Check out Rudolph’s especially amazing work on congas. I like the tracks with Rivers on flute best; to me there’s something timeless and pure about a flute/percussion ensemble. But Rivers shows us what it means to get busy on all of his instruments, and every track is incredibly amped-up and exciting. Consider the free jazz goods delivered. Rivers plays flute on 1 & 5, tenor sax on 2, 4, & 7, and soprano sax on 3 & 6.