Crystals

In 1974 when Sam Rivers cut Crystals, nobody was doing avant-garde jazz with a big band – “big” being somewhat of an understatement as Rivers had a 64-piece band at his disposal. Along with the fact that he composed Crystals from 1959 to 1972, what really makes this album special was the balance of improv and conceptualization braiding together. The opening “Exultation” explodes sounding like the listener has been dropped in the middle of a freeform maelstrom. But when the bass and drums roll in, horns and strings scamper out of the foreground to solo off in jagged, kaleidoscopic fractals before regrouping. “Tranquility” delivers on its title with a more structured foundation of mellowed funk grooves built by bass and tuba. From there, flutes and woodwinds trim the top making way for a slow parade of brass to seep in and sparkle with harmonious incongruity, making for continuous ascent. The aptly named “Bursts” is a collage of short, allocated blurts coming together at once but wherein each player opens a pocket for someone else to solo reveals the raw chemistry.