Capri Records

A celebration of Sam Rivers music for his 100th birthday. Masters arranged 11 tracks from Rivers classic Blue Note sessions which features Billy Harper. Sam Rivers 100 grew out of a series of performances in late 2023 to celebrate what would have been Rivers’ 100th birthday on September 25. Masters was drawn to Rivers’ earlier, mid-’60s work for Blue Note Records, in particular the saxophonist’s classic 1964 debut, Fuchsia Swing Song. He arranged all six of the album’s tracks for Sam Rivers 100, which comprise more than half of its 11 pieces. ‘I’ve been a fan of Sam Rivers for many years,’ Masters says. The idea for arranging his music was born almost 20 years ago, when Masters brought Rivers, then in his early 80s, and his trio to Claremont McKenna College as part of a series produced by the American Jazz Institute.

On a pair of thrilling new albums for longtime label home Capri Records, acclaimed arranger and bandleader Mark Masters works his re-compositional magic on the work of two masters of the tenor saxophone, both very different but equally brilliant composers. With Sam Rivers 100, Masters honors the 2023 centenary of avant-garde jazz pioneer Sam Rivers, while on Dance, Eternal Spirits, Dance! he explores the wide-ranging compositions of spiritual jazz legend Billy Harper. Both albums, to be released in June 2025, feature ingenious new arrangements for different configurations of the Mark Masters Ensemble, and are graced by the breathtaking solo work of Billy Harper. “Billy Harper is a longtime hero of mine,” says Masters, who first invited the tenor great to guest on his 1990 album Priestess, which also featured trombonist and Charles Mingus sideman Jimmy Knepper. “Billy is a very gifted composer whose music is singular, and I also love his playing.”