Fuchsia Swing Song is the debut album by American saxophonist Sam Rivers

Sam Rivers

Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....

 recorded in 1964 and released on the Blue Note

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

 label. The CD reissue includes three alternate takes as bonus tracks.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "By the time of his debut, Rivers had been deep under the influence of Coltrane and Coleman, but wasn't willing to give up the blues just yet. Hence the sound on Fuchsia Swing Song is one of an artist who is at once very self-assured, and in transition... This is a highly recommended date. Rivers never played quite like this again".

Track listing

All compositions by Sam Rivers

1. "Fuchsia Swing Song" – 6:03
2. "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" – 5:33
3. "Cyclic Episode" – 6:57
4. "Luminous Monolith" – 6:31
5. "Beatrice" – 6:13
6. "Ellipsis" – 7:43
7. "Luminous Monolith" – 6:39
8. "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" [first alternate take] – 8:09 Bonus track on CD reissue
9. "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" [second alternate take] – 7:47 Bonus track on CD reissue
10. "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" [third alternate take] – 7:49 Bonus track on CD reissue
    • Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on December 11, 1964

Personnel

• Sam Rivers
  Sam Rivers
  Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....
  
   – tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Jaki Byard
  Jaki Byard
  Jaki Byard was an American jazz pianist and composer who also played trumpet and saxophone, among several other instruments. He was noteworthy for his eclectic style, incorporating everything from ragtime and stride to free jazz...
  
   – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Ron Carter
  Ron Carter
  Ron Carter is an American jazz double-bassist. His appearances on over 2,500 albums make him one of the most-recorded bassists in jazz history, along with Milt Hinton, Ray Brown and Leroy Vinnegar. Carter is also an acclaimed cellist who has recorded numerous times on that...
  
   – bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Tony Williams – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....