The New Sam Rivers' RivBea Orchestra Orlando - Feature Image

16 Piece Orchestra at Will’s Pub Wednesday night! | The New Sam Rivers’ (RIP) RivBea Orchestra | Will’s Pub Orlando | Wednesday 24, 2016

by • February 21, 2016

“The New Sam Rivers’ Rivbea Orchestra will consist of 16 members; 13 horn players, bass, drums and guitar.”

Buy Tickets to the RivBea Orchestra, Only $7!!!

Sam Rivers is a legend of jazz music.  And I don’t just mean “local legend.” Sam was writing and/or playing on major jazz records starting back in the ’60s and recorded with such icons as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Dave Holland.  The man made over 50 records in his lifetime. FIFTY. RECORDS.

Sam moved to Orlando from New York in the early ’90s with his wife Bea. He played locally with a 15-20 piece orchestra comprised of some of the best players in Central Florida.  Disney, Universal Studios, UCF, Rollins College: this is where all of his players played when they weren’t playing with him.  To play with Sam you had to not just be good, you had to be great.  Fellas like Sam Zambito on trumpet come to mind.  (Look up Zambito’s credentials when you get a chance and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.)

It was fairly regular for me to see Sam Rivers once or twice a year in the 2000s at the original Will’s Pub (a venue I played quite a few times myself).  From the very first time I saw Sam Rivers and his orchestra perform, I immediately gained absolute respect for him as a composer, conductor, and musician.  He was a bonafide maestro.  And while that is absolutely true and verifiable by anyone who ever saw him perform, it was even more obvious that he was just the coolest kat you ever met.  After one show, he and Anthony Cole (who was drumming for Sam at the time) just hung out, even after the crowd had gone home, and talked music with me for twenty or thirty straight minutes, and I mostly listened! There was absolutely no ego or condescension.  Sam spoke with me like we were just old friends chatting about the thing we all loved: music.  To say the least, I was just as floored by his humility as I was his musical knowledge, and passion for it.

After Sam’s passing in 2011 (he was 88 years old) there was a void in the Central Florida music scene and community that wasn’t going to just get filled by any old thing.  Enter bassist Doug Mathews.  Doug has taken on the heaviest of mantles and resurrected the ensemble/orchestra and formed the New Sam Rivers’ RivBea Orchestra.  It’s an orchestra featuring 16 players: 13 horns, a drummer, bassist, and guitarist.  The group features some of the prior players, like Doug himself, along with some newer talent that heralds from a lot of the same sources.

Buy Tickets to the RivBea Orchestra, Only $7!!!

Backing Doug up are some of the most decorated, talented, and credentialed players you’ll find in Orlando.  Josh Parsons, for example, who plays tuba in RivBea, also plays sousaphone for the brass band at Disney World and is the band leader behind local favorite New Orleans jazz group The Brown Bag Brass Band.  When Josh plays tuba, no kidding, you’d think you were listening to a bass guitar.  I actually saw a show of BBBB at The Peacock Room (RIP, Peacock Room), and for about 45 seconds I kept looking around to see who was playing bass, until I realized it was Josh’s tuba.

Thomas Damon, drummer, is just a monster.  This guy is so smooth, it’s ridiculous.  Rarely have I seen a drummer with such control and finesse that does a great job of convincing you that he’s not even trying.  (Hint: it’s because he’s probably not.)

Then there’s guitar legend-who-happens-to-live-locally, Bobby Koelble.  Bobby is probably most famous for being in the archetypal metal band, Death.  However, he has been a music instructor at Rollins College for over a decade and has a number of other projects such as The Absinthe Trio and local monsters Junkie Rush (with whom I have been fortunate enough to have shared the stage with on more than one occasion).  Bobby has a lot of responsibility, as Sam had intended for his saxophone parts to be played on guitar in his absence instead of forcing another sax player to play his parts (and thusly avoiding comparison).  Big shoes for Bobby to fill, to say the least.

And that’s just a few of the players in the group.  I could keep going, but you probably get the idea.

Come “get dressed up in a dive” and catch the New Sam Rivers’ RivBea Orchestra on Wednesday, August 26th (and the last Wednesday of every month) at Will’s Pub! The event is 18+ and doors are at 9:00 p.m.. Tickets are $7 in advance, $10 at the door on the day of show.

Buy Tickets to the RivBea Orchestra, Only $7!!!

The New Sam Rivers' RivBea Orchestra Orlando

Buy Tickets to the RivBea Orchestra, Only $7!!!

The New Sam Rivers’ RivBea Orchestra Orlando Preview by Josh Jauz.

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