Ah! The jazz guitar! Here are a couple, one from one of the progenitors of modern six gunning, and the other while more obscure, makes quite an impression.
Lee Ritenour looks forward here by looking back and revisiting material from his earlier albums, mostly from his debut First Course, but also from later releases such as Earth Run. He teams up with buds and studs from those earlier days, and the all star cast of Patrice Rushen/key, Ernie Watts/ts, John Beasley/key, Dave Weckl/dr, Tom Kennedy/b, Ron Bruner/dr and Dave Grusin/key mix and match with a list of first call studio buddies. Vintage tunes like “Fatback,” “Wild Rice” and “Sweet Syncopation” are given new “twists” and sound fresh, fun and funky. Ritenour himself is in inspired form, and you can feel the smile coming out of each solo. “Bullet Train” and “Countdown” have a jazz club jam feel, with sparks flying from Beasley and Grusin, while the closing guitar duet with Tony Pusztai on “Waltz For Carmen” feels like an intimate conversation. Ritenour’s been on a creative roll the last few years; catch him while you can!
Lou Volpe delivers a tasty tribute to Sinatra by delivering some well delivered takes of tunes made famous by the Chairman. Along with Mel Davis/key, Stanley Banks/b, Gary Fritz/perc and Buddy Williams/dr he displays artistic picking with an easy back beat on pieces like “I’ll Remember April” and “A Foggy day.” He sounds cozy and intimate on solo tracks such as “Softly as I Leave You” and “Days of Wine and Roses” and he knows how to bend the strings as he makes them cry for mercy on “One For My Baby.” He taps the like Astaire on “a hip “The Best is Yet To Come” and is sleek as a Caddie’s fins on “You Go To My Head.” One for the Road!
1 comment for “SIX STRING THEORIES…Lee Ritenour: A Twist of Rit, Lou Volpe: Remembering Ol’ Blue Eyes”