{"id":2497023,"date":"2026-07-10T20:27:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T20:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2497023"},"modified":"2026-07-10T20:27:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T20:27:37","slug":"new-orleans-jazz-rb-musician-james-rivers-dies-at-89-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/new-orleans-jazz-rb-musician-james-rivers-dies-at-89-music\/","title":{"rendered":"New Orleans jazz, R&B musician James Rivers dies at 89 | Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

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James Rivers, a multi-instrumentalist fixture of New Orleans nightclubs who was fluent on everything from saxophone and clarinet to bagpipes, died July 5. He was 89.<\/p>\n

His saxophone was featured on such classic New Orleans R&B recordings as Al Johnson\u2019s \u201cCarnival Time\u201d and Frankie Ford\u2019s \u201cSea Cruise.\u201d<\/p>\n

His jazz band, the James Rivers Movement, logged countless gigs everywhere from Tyler\u2019s Beer Garden on Magazine Street to Mel\u2019s Lounge in Faubourg Marigny to annual appearances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.<\/p>\n

His fans included director and actor Clint Eastwood. Rivers performed on the soundtracks of several Eastwood films, including the New Orleans-shot 1984 thriller \u201cTightrope\u201d and 1988\u2019s \u201cBird,\u201d the biography of jazz musician Charlie Parker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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James Rivers Movement performs on the Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta New Orleans stage during French Quarter Fest in New Orleans, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune)<\/p>\n

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\n STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER<\/span>
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Rivers also appeared onscreen in Eastwood’s \u201cThe Bridges of Madison County\u201d in 1995.<\/p>\n

Born in the Treme neighborhood on April 18, 1937, Rivers grew up in a close-knit family of six siblings. He first started playing music at age 8.<\/p>\n

He attended Walter L. Cohen High School and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School.<\/p>\n

Determined to be a professional musician, he studied at the Houston School of Music. He toured as a backing musician with the Impressions, Jerry Butler and the New Orleans R&B band Huey Smith & the Clowns.<\/p>\n

While on tour with the Clowns, he was badly injured in a car accident. After being hospitalized, he formed the James Rivers Movement.<\/p>\n

In the book \u201cUp from the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II,\u201d Rivers recounted to co-author Jason Berry an unconventional musical inspiration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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James Rivers, right, performs during a press conference where the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival lineup was released at the George and Joyce Wein Jazz and Heritage Center in New Orleans on Tuesday, January 15, 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cSometimes I used to practice and go out at night to Lake Pontchartrain, in contemplative moments, where it would be quiet and listen at the waves and the water,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cJust to be alone, like to hear the different sounds of the water beating against the seawall, and I could meditate. You\u2019d be surprised at the things you can work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

His repertoire of instruments included the tenor, soprano and alto saxophones, clarinet, flute, harmonica, piano, organ and guitar.<\/p>\n

A school band\u2019s performance during a televised football game first piqued his interest in bagpipes. He ordered one from the music store Werlein\u2019s and taught himself how to play from listening to bagpipe records.<\/p>\n

During an interview with Berry at the 2017 Jazz Fest, Rivers clarified, \u201cI am not really a bagpiper, but a musician who learned how to play one.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rivers was a regular at Tyler\u2019s Beer Garden, which opened on Magazine Street in the 1970s and burned in 1990. That was reportedly where Eastwood first heard him.<\/p>\n

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The cover of New Orleans multi-instrumentalist James Rivers’ 1981 funk-jazz album ‘Thrill Me.’<\/p>\n

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\n BY KEITH SPERA | Staff writer<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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A favorite at jazz brunches, he also had a standing gig at Fat Harry\u2019s on St. Charles Avenue. His robust bagpipe rendition of \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d inspired drinkers to sing along with the religious standard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beyond the many recordings by other artists to which he contributed, Rivers\u2019 own discography includes the 1978 album \u201cOl\u00e9\u201d and 1981\u2019s jazz-funk collection \u201cThrill Me.\u201d Recorded at Allen Toussaint\u2019s Sea-Saint studio in Gentilly and released on J.B.\u2019s Records, \u201cThrill Me\u201d consisted mostly of songs written by producer Senator Jones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He also issued 45 rpm singles for J.B.\u2019s Records and other labels, including 1976\u2019s \u201cDisco Lady.\u201d His 1996 CD \u201cI\u2019m the Man\u201d included \u201cAmazing Grace,\u201d \u201cAve Maria,\u201d \u201cCherokee\u201d and \u201cAll These Things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berry, a friend for more than 50 years, recalled the spontaneous energy of Rivers\u2019 1970s gigs at the Freret Street club Sylvia\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe sometimes led patrons out of Sylvia\u2019s, second lining down the street,\u201d Berry said. \u201cOnce he got on the Freret bus, serenaded the driver for a few blocks, got off at Napoleon Avenue and met his dancing tribe on the way back.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a showman of seamless ease. Off stage he was an easy-going gentleman, a delight to hang with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funeral arrangements are incomplete.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Rivers, a multi-instrumentalist fixture of New Orleans nightclubs who was fluent on everything from saxophone and clarinet to bagpipes, died July 5. He was 89. His saxophone was featured on such classic New Orleans R&B recordings as Al Johnson\u2019s \u201cCarnival Time\u201d and Frankie Ford\u2019s \u201cSea Cruise.\u201d His jazz band, the James Rivers Movement, logged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2497024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2497023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/New-Orleans-jazz-RB-musician-James-Rivers-dies-at-89.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2497023"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497025,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2497023\/revisions\/2497025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2497024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2497023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2497023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2497023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}