Contours (album)

Contours
Studio album by Sam Rivers
Released	January 1967 [1]
Recorded	May 21, 1965
Studio	Van Gelder, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre	Avant-garde jazz
Length	40:08
Label	Blue Note BST 84206
Producer	Alfred Lion
Sam Rivers chronology
Fuchsia Swing Song (1964) Contours (1967) A New Conception (1967)

Contours is the second album by American saxophonist Sam Rivers, recorded in 1965 and released on the Blue Note label. ^[2] The CD reissue contains an alternate take as a bonus track.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
DownBeat	[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[7]

The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated, "On Contours, his second Blue Note album, tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers fully embraced the avant-garde, but presented his music in a way that wouldn't be upsetting or confusing to hard bop loyalists... Rarely is Contours anything less than enthralling, and it remains one of the high watermarks of the mid-'60s avant-garde movement". ^[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Sam Rivers.

1. "Point of Many Returns" - 9:20
2. "Dance of the Tripedal" - 10:07
3. "Euterpe" - 11:43
4. "Mellifluous Cacophony" - 8:58
5. "Mellifluous Cacophony" [Alternate Take] - 9:04 Bonus track on CD reissue

Personnel

• Sam Rivers - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute
• Freddie Hubbard - trumpet
• Herbie Hancock - piano
• Ron Carter - bass
• Joe Chambers - drums

References

1. Billboard Jan 28, 1967
2. Blue Note Records discography accessed November 22, 2010
3. Erlewine, S. T. Allmusic Review accessed November 22, 2010
4. Down Beat: April 6, 1967 vol. 34, no. 7
5. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 1968.
6. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1217. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
7. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 168. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.