Beatrice is an instrumental composed by the American composer Sam Rivers (1923-2011), who is its only credited writer; the piece has no lyrics. Rivers recorded it on 11 December 1964, and it was released in 1965 as track 4 on Fuchsia Swing Song, his debut album for Blue Note (BST 84184). The track runs 6:13.
Some listings classify the album as post-bop and hard bop. Critics received it well: AllMusic's reviewer called it highly recommended and observed that Rivers was then under the influence of John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, though he was not yet willing to give up the blues. DownBeat gave the album four stars out of five in 1965, and The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded it its top rating. Later, many jazz musicians recorded their own versions of the piece, among them Chet Baker, Kevin Hays, Brad Mehldau and Anthony Braxton.
