"Beatrice" is one of Sam Rivers's most enduring compositions, a hauntingly beautiful melody that has become a jazz standard performed by musicians across the stylistic spectrum. Recorded for his 1964 Blue Note debut Fuchsia Swing Song, the piece features a lyrical 16-bar form in F that unfolds at a medium tempo, its gentle swing providing a contrast to the album's more explosive tracks. Rivers delivers three tenor saxophone choruses that reveal his gift for melodic improvisation, his solo balancing the composition's inherent lyricism with the harmonic adventurousness that characterized his playing. His tone is warm and full, and his phrasing has a vocal quality that brings out the tune's songlike character. Jaki Byard follows with two piano choruses of understated elegance, his playing more restrained and lyrical than on the album's faster numbers. Ron Carter contributes two bass choruses that showcase his exceptional intonation and melodic invention, his arco work particularly expressive. The composition is dedicated to Rivers's wife, and the tenderness of that dedication is audible in every note of the performance. "Beatrice" has since been recorded by countless artists and is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful jazz compositions to emerge from the 1960s avant-garde.
