Crystals (Sam Rivers album)


Crystals is an album by Sam Rivers, released by Impulse! Records in 1974 in a stereo/quadraphonic format.

Background

It had been over a decade since Ornette Coleman had worked with his Free Jazz Double Quartet, nine years since John Coltrane assembled his Ascension band, and six since the first Jazz Composers' Orchestra Association was formed and whose first records were issued and the compositions for what eventually became Crystals were written between 1959 and 1972. They were finished as new elements came to him to fit them together conceptually.
The album was released by Impulse! in September 1974, and was out of print after a few years. It was re-released in CD form in 2002, and available for three years through Universal Distribution.
The compositions were recorded over a period of five or six hours by an ensemble sometimes reported as 14 musicians: 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, 5 reeds, bass, and 2 drummers. Other musicians listed in the vinyl liner notes were present in rehearsals but not the recording.

Reception

Jazz critic Thom Jurek wrote: “Musically, this is the mature Sam Rivers speaking from the wide base of his knowledge as a composer, improviser and conceptualist.”

Track listing

  1. "Exultation" – 8:25
  2. "Tranquility" – 8:58
  3. "Postlude" – 2:31
  4. "Bursts" – 6:51
  5. "Orb" – 9:36
  6. "Earth Song" – 4:09

Personnel

Including Rivers, this big band numbers 'sixty-four' musicians, including:
Credits from AllMusic include 62 musicians :
Flugelhorn, trumpet
Trombone
Tuba
Horn
Flute, saxophone
  • Roland Alexander – flute, soprano and tenor saxophones
  • Paul Jeffrey – flute, tenor saxophone
  • Fred Kelly – flute, soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones
  • Sam Rivers – flute, soprano and tenor saxophones
Woodwinds
Bass violin
Percussion
Production