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I'd say it's the smooth jazz thing that doesn't get mentioned on a mostly straight ahead jazz guitar forum.
There's some very talented players in that genre like Norman Brown, Nick Colione, Paul Jackson jr, etc., oh, and some cat named Benson when he chooses to and who also happens to be one of the main players those guys emulated when you think about it.
I don't listen to smooth jazz but there are some excellent players.
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05-08-2020 12:20 AM
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Could be that his diversity as a guitarist is the reason his name doesn't come up often here.
In terms of music genres, he has a massive wingspan. Six String Theory is one album that illustrates that to the nines. He recorded jazz tunes with Scofield, Stern, Martino, Benson, and DeFrancesco; blues with Taj Majal, Bonamassa, Cray, and BB King; rock with Lukather, Slash, and Schon; and acoustic guitar with Andy McKee. I have left out numerous others ...
I make a point to catch Lee's shows whenever he is in town. He is one of my favorite guitar players. I count 10 of his albums in my music library.
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I grew up on Ritenour seeing him at The Baked Potato back when he was 21 or so. Had a table right next to his parents and had a nice chat with them. Lee and I were in the head with Lee in front of me. On the wall was 'Joe Pass pissed here'. After Lee was 'done' he said "I'm not sure I should be here then!'. I told him he was ready, because he was. His early stuff was full of energy and I didn't classify it as smooth jazz (but yea he wasn't playing standard). The band was great with Patrice Russian on piano, Harvey Mason on Drums and Abe Loboriel on bass.
I had to order coffee to meet the 2 drink minimum since I wasn't 21. Great times. Since I got into that jazz-thing from Beck's Blow-by-Blow, Lee's music was a good fit. But as I progressed backwards towards Tal, Jimmy, Barney, Wes, Grant,,,,, I stop paying much attention to the type of jazz Lee etc... were making. I did see Lee about 20 years after that, and the event was nice but it was a mix of various styles and for me the favorite part was when he played an archtop in the style of Wes.
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He is obviously a great player. Volumes could be written on how he and Larry Carlton have managed to have very successful careers spanning 4 decades despite not being vocalists.
Being able to change with the times...that’s the key.
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He's a great player, so far beyond me it's not even funny, but can you recognize his playing if it comes on the radio/playlist/stream? Honestly I can't. I can hear some track and think there's some really accomplished playing there, and it will be Ritenour. But I've never learned to recognize a playing identity, the way I can pick out contemporaries like Carlton or Ford. Maybe that's a limitation of mine, but if I had to point to a thing that keep him for getting the recognition he perhaps should, it's that lack of identity.
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Not me, Ritenour is very reconizable to me.
In my teens in the 1970s I saw Ritenour many times, and listened to him a lot. I also had all his albums. He does have a certain vocabulary and feel that I recognize.
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"Lee Ritenour??? That guy sounds like he should be wearing a damn Bunny Suit when he plays". ~ Scott Henderson.
LOL
The merits of his playing not withstanding, that quote always cracks me up.
Cheers
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Lee has an album with Carlton..Larry & Lee...and there are some UTUBE vids of them playing together...a study in contempory guitar styles..
He is not recognized as a "jazz" player..like Carlton his style embraces a wide variety of music..and if he wanted to he could just play jazz ..now many consider his
recent music "soft jazz" and yep he is played of soft jazz stations..but every so often I do hear him on a "real jazz" preset...
over the years I have seen many takes of Lee..he can play crunchy hard rock with the best of them and be authentic...from acoustic nylon to a modded les paul..
he has played with many top jazz icons and is respected ...and like Larry Carlton..he does his own style and tours around the world with top players
I try to incorporate some of his "feel" in my playing..when it happens its a joy to be able to play it...Last edited by wolflen; 05-09-2020 at 07:00 PM.
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Boss City
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And when he was 16:
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Lee's "Stolen Moments" and "Wes Bound" CD's get played rather often around here, as does my Gibson Lee Rit L-5 Signature.
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Those are my two favorite Ritenour CDs as well. I wish he'd do another more straight ahead jazz project. Lee certainly has the chops.
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Can definitely play but the Scott Henderson quote comes to mind in the first clip posted here. Just an opinion.
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Originally Posted by Rhythmisking
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Funny, I forgot about this thread, this is probably what originally got me interested in the Revstar. I got the Rs620 and its my favorite guitar. The "dry switch" seems to just be a high pass filter and cleans up the low end, by the time you get to the third E note and higher, I can't hear an affect of the switch. When I mix my tracks I'm pretty much always putting a high pass filter on all my guitars anyways.
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Originally Posted by fep
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Originally Posted by wintermoon
See also Andy Brown.
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[EDIT] Someone told me on FB. Its
What is the name of the first tune here. Thanks.
Last edited by velja; 04-11-2023 at 04:52 PM.
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