Contours (album)

Last updated
Contours
Contours (album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 1967 [1]
RecordedMay 21, 1965
Studio Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Genre Avant-garde jazz
Length40:08
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.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Tom Hull – on the Web B+ [7]

The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album 5 stars and 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

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References

  1. Billboard Jan 28, 1967
  2. Blue Note Records discography accessed November 22, 2010
  3. 1 2 Erlewine, S. T. Allmusic Review accessed November 22, 2010
  4. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 1968.
  5. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1217. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0.
  6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 168. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
  7. Hull, Tom. "Grade List: Sam Rivers". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved October 22, 2023.