Sam Rivers
Tenor Sax Solo on
Downstairs Blues Upstairs

About

Sam Rivers's second tenor saxophone solo on "Downstairs Blues Upstairs" is the third and final solo on this track from his 1964 Blue Note debut Fuchsia Swing Song. He returns for four choruses of the 12-bar blues form at 231 BPM in F, following his own ten-chorus opening and Jaki Byard's eight-chorus piano solo. This closing statement brings the blues to its climax, Rivers building on the energy accumulated throughout the performance to deliver a final burst of creative intensity before the ensemble returns to the head.

Sam Rivers was 40 to 41 years old at the time.