Beatrice is a 16-bar jazz ballad by Sam Rivers, first recorded in 1964 on his debut album Fuchsia Swing Song - the piece sits between hard bop and free jazz with a minimalist, flowing structure. It was inspired by Rivers’s wife Bea, making it a deeply felt love song in the post-bop era. The original recording features Ron Carter on bass, Tony Williams on drums, and Jaki Byard on piano, opening with a rubato piano intro before Rivers’s tenor enters. Beatrice has since become a jazz standard, especially in tenor saxophone repertoire, and has been covered by many players including Joe Henderson on The State of the Tenor (1985) - with later explorations by Stefon Harris and Jason Moran on New Directions (2000) and Robert Glasper on In My Element (2001). The tune is celebrated for its emotional charge, openness, and its influential role in post-bop and the loft-era sound.
