Ya know, Metheny gets all the accolades, Benson reels in the bucks and Frisell seems to be the critics’ darling, but for my money, Lee Ritenour is consistently the most satisfying guy around the frets. His Six String Theory last year was an absolute knockout, and if you’ve seen him in concert, you know that he can play any style and still sound like himself. His records, and his catalogue are like a guitar anthology of what you’re supposed to sound like with an axe.
This time around he teams up with some heavy hitters like Stanley Clarke/b, George Duke/key, Dave Grusin/key, Marcus Miller/b, Christian McBride/b, Peter Erskine/dr, Vinnie Colaiuta/dr, Dave Weckl/dr and even Kurt Elling/voc for music that goes from hip and funk to gorgeous acoustic. If you want some neck bobbing, give an ear to Ritenour’s take of “Fat Albert Rotunda” and you’ll need a chiropractor in no time. If you want more straightahead, “800 streets By Feet” shows some nice picking on the strings, while some luscious velvety sounds come from his acoustic box on Chick Corea’s “Children’s Song.” Colaiuta drives the band like Ben-Hur on the chariots on “Spam-Boo-Limbo,” and Elling brings some of his strongest vocals as he tells a story with the band on the intriguing “River Man.” If you don’t find something on this release to enjoy, then I suggest you stick to trumpet players, as it doesn’t get any better than this.
Concord Jazz Records