Sideman

3.5 Stars

I was intrigued to read this one because I've seen Mark Rivera a few times in concert with musical acts I admire. I saw him perform with Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, Billy Joel, and at The Fest for Beatles Fans. I was particularly struck seeing him perform at Beatlefest when I heard just how great he can sing...and thought, "He's much more than a saxophone player!" He just doesn't stand there and play notes; he feels and becomes the music on stage. He's played with Hall and Oates, Simon & Garfunkel, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Foreigner- and many more.

The book clocks in at just over 250 pages and the writing is very easy and free-flowing as if he's talking to you. He seems like a very down to earth guy, and a family man. Like a lot of other artists who were navigating the constraints of the pandemic, he took this opportunity to write his story. Although he's known primarily as a sax player, he's so much more. He plays many other instruments and has a canny knack of directing all the other musicians to sound their best, but without coming off as a jerk. He found himself coaxing more exact performances out of both Ringo and Paul McCartney...correcting them on their own songs...and coming out of it with the utmost appreciation and respect. That's how Mark Rivera not only has been a musician in Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band, but quickly became its Musical Director. And now when Mark is busy with his obligation to touring with Billy Joel (as he has for decades), he still maintains his job as Musical Director for Ringo. They are friends and Ringo even wrote the forward to this book!

This was a good and quick read, and an interesting one for music fans like me.

Thank you to the publisher BenBella Books for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.