Rivers comes from the delta region of Mississippi. He was classically trained on the clarinet, but fell in love with jazz and blues in his early teens. He quickly picked up other instruments to try those more known for jazz, but always seemed to come right back to his clarinet. At this time he also began to work on his voice. He met and became close friends with Anita Morelli and Madeleine Lefebvre. And then I just need dance war histories and i can be done with this section!