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Sam Rivers's tenor saxophone solo opens the improvisation on "Cyclic Episode" from his 1964 Blue Note debut Fuchsia Swing Song. He takes nine choruses of the 16-bar form at 202 BPM in B-flat minor, exploring the composition's dark, modal framework with the combination of lyrical invention and avant-garde intensity that characterizes his playing throughout the album. The minor-key 16-bar structure provides a brooding harmonic canvas, and Rivers's extended nine-chorus solo builds through varied approaches to the form. He is the first of three soloists, followed by Ron Carter on acoustic bass and Jaki Byard on piano.
Sam Rivers was 40 to 41 years old at the time.
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