Twelfth Plectrum Podcast - The smooth guitar of Lee Ritenour

Check out the new Lee Ritenour CD, Smoke 'n' Mirrors.
Born in the USA (born January 11,1952) as Lee Mack Ritenour. He is also affectionately called "Captain Fingers" due to his mastery of the guitar he plays. For me this guitarist is a genius that sometimes does really silly career moves! I mean with his talent why delve into pop or electronic music?!! In fact Lee has frequently been criticised by his fans for these moves he sometimes makes. I don't believe it is because in pop one makes more money because if I had to ask any pop fan who Lee Ritenour is I believe nobody would know! But any jazz enthusiast knows who Lee Ritenour is. Anyway in my podcasts I selected some really good tracks for you and did not even dare include any that sounded a bit pop.

Podcast description

TRACK 1. Tush - From the album On the Line. This is a typical smooth Lee Ritenour tune taken from the very first Ritenour album (CD) I ever had. Lee has some very good musicians helping him too such as Dave Grusin on keyboards and Anthony Jackson on bass among others.

TRACK 2. Sun Song - From the album Captain Fingers. This is a ballad like soft tune in which Lee Ritenour plays acoustic guitar.

TRACK 3. Silent Message - From the album Harlequin. This album consists of a number of Brazil inspired songs and on some of them in fact one can even hear the Brazilian singer Ivan Lins . I chose this one because it is one of the instrumental tracks (no singing) and because it is the best track on the CD (in my opinion anyway).

TRACK 4. L.A. Underground - From the album Larry and Lee. This is a collaboration with the famous Larry Carlton, and one that really succeded as this album is considered one of Lee's best ever. Lee's guitar sound on this track reminds me of the typical sound of George Benson. It's a very good upbeat tune - easy to listen to as with all the other tracks.

Happy listening.




Check out this video of Lee Ritenour in action:

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The new Lee Ritenour CD - Smoke 'n' Mirrors.True to its intriguing and provocative title, Lee Ritenour's latest CD Smoke N' Mirrors takes listeners on a magical, multi-faceted global journey unlike any other in the legendary guitarist's three decade, nearly 40 album career. Inspired by his very first trip to South Africa in 2005, where he performed five hugely successful concerts at festivals in Johannesburg and Capetown, with Smoke N' Mirrors, Ritenour takes an expansive, polyrhythmic approach, working with musicians from South Africa, Cameroon-West Africa, Brazil, Columbia, Peru and India.

Also joining him on this recording is an exciting mix of old friends who happen to be some of America's top jazz performers. Among those featured are pianists Dave Grusin and Patrice Rushen; drummer Vinnie Colaiuta; along with bassists John Patitucci, Brian Bromberg, Abraham Laboriel and Richard Bona. There are eight percussionists on the record including Sheila E, Alex Acuna and Paulinho Da Costa and on tablas is Satnam Ramgotra from India. Ever the innovator, Ritenour employs a total of 12 guitars, his most ever, to achieve what can only be described as sonic perfection. These include the Gibson Lee Ritenour Model and a wide variety of baritone, steel and high string guitars.

Smoke N' Mirrors also marks the American recording debut of South African singing sensation Zamajobe on three songs as well as the composing and recording debut of Ritenour's thirteen- year-old son Wesley, a highly talented drummer. Wes adds brushes to Zamajobe's original song, the exotic call and response anthem "Memeza," and also composed the graceful melody of the soulful and atmospheric "Stone Cool."

Track listing:

Smoke ‘n Mirrors: Upbeat and percussive, but how could it not be with the following rhythm section: Rit – guitar, Melvin Davis - six string electric bass, Richard Bona – bass fills, Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, Alex Acuna – percussion, Shelia E - percussion.

Capetown: Rit – Guitar, Richard bona – Electric Bass, Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, Alex Acuna – percussion.

Southwest Passage: This is a Dave Grusin composition. It features Rit on guitar, Dave on piano, John Patitucci on acoustic bass, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Alex Acuna and Paulinho DaCosta on percussion. Beautiful composition!

Waters Edge: This one has an African folk tinge to it. Based on a seemingly simple melody, it’s catchy and makes you want to break out into a dance: Rit – guitar, Richard Bona – electric bass, Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, Alex Acuna – percussion.

Blue Days: Switching continents and countries we are literally guided across the equator into this Brazilian tune, written and arranged by Daniel Jobim, grandson of Antonio Carlos. A very romantic duet sung in Portuguese by Daniel and Joyce. This is my favourite track maybe because I am such a big fan of Antonio Carlos Jobim: Daniel Jobim – vocals and keyboards, Joyce – vocals, Rit – guitar, Dave Grusin – acoustic piano, John Patitucci - acoustic bass, Danilo Caymmi – flutes, Paulinho Da Costa – percussion, Alex Acuna – Drums.

Spellbinder: This is a Gabor Szabo composition, Arranged by Lee, it features Lee on guitar, Brian Bromberg on acoustic bass, Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, Alex Acuna – percussion, Satnam Ramgotra – tablas. Fans of percussion may want to stand in the sweet spot between your speakers, turn the volume way up and feel this one! Lee spends some time weaving in and out of this groove, then steps back for a while to savor it himself.

Memeza: A short interlude by Zamajobe and Kanesha Kamwendo. Rit – guitars, Zamajobe – vocals, Erik Pilani Paliani – acoustic and electric guitars, Wesley Ritenour (yes, the little kid last seen on the cover of Lee’s “This Is Love”) – drums, Tiale Makhene – percussion, Alberto Lopez – wood percussion.

Povo: Lee brings us back to the U.S. momentarily with his bluesy arrangement of this Freddie Hubbard composition. Featured here are beautiful solos by Patrice Rushen on the Fender Rhodes piano, and Sheila E on percussion, Melvin Davis – electric bass, Oscar Seaton – drums.

Lovely Day: Next up is a fresh and contemporary take on this popular Bill Withers song. Most of you will find it familiar, if I am not mistaken it was also recorded by Simply Red. Zamajobe - vocals, Lee – guitar, Dave Grusin – acoustic piano, Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, Melvin Davis – six string bass, Erik Pilani Paliani – rhythm guitar. Zamajobe’s beautiful voice, the use of chants and percussion provide a lush, almost spiritual African flavor to this classic.

Township: Written and arranged by Lee. Rit – guitar, Richard Bona – electric bass, Steve Tavaglione – soprano sax and alto flute. Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, Alex Acuna – percussion, Satnam Ramgotra – tables. It’s very nice hearing Steve on another Rit project!

Forget Me Nots: Arranged by Lee and Patrice Rushen, this is a Patrice classic. Lee – guitars, Zamajobe – vocals, Patrice Rushen – Fender Rhodes, organ solo, Erik Pilani Paliani – rhythm guitar, Melvin Davis – electric bass, Oscar Seaton – drums, Shelia E – percussion. What a great vocalist this Zamajobe is! Excellent arrangement too!

Stone Cool: Written and arranged by Lee and Wesley Ritenour. Lee – acoustic guitar, Patrice Rushen – Fender Rhodes, Alex Acuna – drums, Abraham Laboriel – electric bass, Mea Noite – percussion.

Motherland: The deep groove of this track is about as relentless as you’ll find. While you have vintage Lee on guitar, he shows he has a little Ry Cooder in him: Rit – baritone acoustic and electric guitar, Melvin Davis - electric bass, Oscar Seaton – drums, Shelia E – percussion.

4½ Storm: Lest you try to take a break following Motherland, Lee closes up with the fusiony 4 ½ Storm. Written and arranged by Lee. Lee - acoustic and electric guitars, Richard Bona – electric bass, Vinnie Colaiuta – drums, Alex Acuna – congas, Shelia E – Korg wave drum and sound effects. The song fades out with Alex Acuna on congas.

Lee Ritenour plays these guitars on this album:
*1949 Gibson LS
*1960 Gibson 335
*Gibson Lee Ritenour Model
*Yamaha Silent Guitar
*Yamaha 1974 Classic Custom Guitar
*Yamaha Custom Baritone Guitar
*Yamaha Acoustic Steel String Guitar
*Baby Taylor High String Guitar
*Brian Moore Electric/Synthesizer Guitar
*Roger Sadowsky Acoustic Electric Guitar
*Richard Glick Baritone Acoustic #B-252 Model

Click HERE for the guitar score of the title track Smoke 'n' Mirrors

Eleventh Plectrum Podcast - The unique style of Larry Coryell

I was introduced to the music of Larry Coryell accidentally many years ago (when CD's were not even heard of yet) while I was rummaging through vinyl disks at a music shop. I had this habit of looking for unusual, unknown or rather old music because I was, and still am, very curious. I wanted to know what is being done by non commercial musicians and what had been done in the past. That's how I came to know of Larry Coryell. I found this album, heard a track or two as samples and bought it. To enjoy his music you need what's called "an acquired taste" and probably this podcast will not please many. I did try to choose some of his mellowest pieces but I reserved the last track as a sample of the artist's more jazzy facet.


Podcast description:

TRACK 1: Rhapsody in Blue - From Larry Coryell at Kimball's East Emerville, LA, Live. A beautiful interpretation of George Gershwin's famous composition, Rhapsody in Blue. It is amazing how Coryell manages to transpose what's supposed to be played by a full orchestra to just one solo guitar!

TRACK 2: Improvisation on Villa-Lobos (Prelude No.4 in E Minor)- From Larry Coryell and the 11th House (Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival).This is actually a classical piece by the famous Brazilian composer Heitor (or Hector) Villa-Lobos. Larry Coryell, apart from interpreting the piece, improvises on it. That means that he knows this piece so well that he feels confident enough to change it at will. That's the result of really hard work.

TRACK 3: Tamari - From Larry Coryell and the 11th House (Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival). This is how I know Coryell most - playing his electric guitar and doing true Jazz. I left it for the last on purpose. If you hate jazz then skip this one. But I must say it is a really good example of Larry Coryell's mastery and unique style.

Enjoy the music.




Check out this video of Larry Coryell in action:


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Tenth Plectrum Podcast - Vicente Amigo

Vicente Amigo is another Paco De Lucia disciple. As you can see this Paco really had an influence on music! The pity is that locally (in Malta) it is very difficult to find Vicente's music and very few in fact ever heard of him. I only have one CD called Vivencias Imaginadas and all three tracks in today's podcast are in fact from this CD. It is one of his best albums anyway so it is still a very good selection. I think that Vicente Amigo is the most adventurous from the three De Lucia disciples I have featured so far. He includes certain instruments such as flugelhorns (a kind of trumpet) with such effectiveness even though such instruments are hardly ever associated with Flamenco.


BONUS: View the video of Tangos del Arco Bajo from Vicente Amigo's latest CD album entitled Un Momento En El Sonido - not in full unfortunately. [Real Player necessary to view]

BONUS 2: Read this interesting interview with Vicente Amigo



Podcast description:

TRACK 1. Limon de Nata - From Vivencias Imaginadas (1995). A typical New Flamenco composition. Listen to the bass in the beginning how reminiscent of jazz. Then you will notice a brass section and the flugelhorn. A really beautiful piece.

TRACK 2. Querido Metheny - From Vivencias Imaginadas. This is a tribute to the great Pat Matheny (although he is still alive), a fusion / jazz guitarist with a style of his own. Some day I will make a podcast dedicated to him as well. Again in this track notice the good use of the flugelhorn. This is a very romantic track. Me and George (Acoustika) sometimes try to play a very simplified version of this track because we like it so much. Our version has to be simplified because it takes a master to play it the way Vicente does. We cannot even hope to play it as it should. This is definitely my favourite from the whole album.

TRACK 3. Vivencias Imaginadas - From Vivencias Imaginadas. This is the title track. Very expressive and very Spanish. Take note of the sad singing in the first part - pungent I would say. This track has some very impressive percussions too especially at the end part. Good music as expected.

Enjoy.

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Ninth Plectrum Podcast - The little tomato, Tomatito

Tomatito was discovered and mentored by the great Paco De Lucia and one can immediately sense Paco's influence in Tomatito's music although he has also evolved a style of his own. That's the tradmark of an artist. A real artist has influences but always develops a unique style. Sometimes I prefer Tomatito to Paco simply because Tomatito's music is rather more expressive than agressive (as expected from flamenco). In fact most of Tomatito's songs are rather romantic. I was lucky to see Tomatito play live some years ago at the Malta Jazz Festival. In Malta he was accompanied by the great pianist Michel Camilo with whom he has an album aptly named Spain. All I can say is that the duo left everyone in awe.

Believe me, I can listen to this guitarist for ever without ever getting bored!

Well as usual for more information about this artist please click on the image on the top left of this article.

Podcast description:

TRACK 1. Armonias del Romane. From the album BARRIO NEGRO (1991). This track is very representative of new flamenco as it tends to lean a bit towards jazz but not too much. I would say that this is the style that also reflects Paco de Lucia's influence on Tomatito. My favourite.

TRACK 2. Besame Mucho. From the album SPAIN (2000). When I listen to this one I feel like burning my guitar and never play it again in public! He plays this tune with such mastery and passion.

With Tomatito on this album one finds pianist Michel Camilo - a strange combination of guitar and piano but which works so well with these two musicans. Moreover, it is a studio album but the tracks are recorded live. This means that the instruments are not recorded seperately as is usually done in a studio recording but they are recorded in the same way as if it were a live recording, with all musicans playing together. This obviously enhances the playing quality, feel and interaction between musicans. I recommend this album - I believe it is a must for all music lovers. You don't need to be a jazz musican or a latin music lover to enjoy it.

TRACK 3. Two Much / Love Theme. From the album Spain. A very very romantic piece. It is taken from the soundtrack of the movie with the same name, ie, Two Much. I am not sure but it seems that the music was composed by Michel Camilo. Anyway, Tomatito's interpretation (remember he is accompanied by Michel Camilo on this one too) is more than excellent!

TRACK 4. Bir Omurluk Misafir. From the album Paseo de los Castanos (2001). The title of this track is in Turkish and from the little research I made, it seems that it is in fact a turkish tune, though to me it sounds so Spanish. In fact whenever I have friends listen to this track they tell me that it reminds them of the movie sound track from Zorro. It is again a very romantic tune played with great passion and mastery by this great guitarist.

Enjoy the music.




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Martin Taylor - The British finger picker

Martin Taylor, just like Earl Klugh and Tommy Emmanuel is the type of Jazz guitarist that can play the melody (solo), chords and bassline all at one go. One-man-band style I mean! And just like Tommy Emmanuel he is self taught! Amazing isn't it? Imagine being able to teach yourself the guitar without taking any lessons, and then making a career out of playing what you taught yourself, touring the world and winning awards too. That's our Martin Taylor.
The only thing that's maybe on the minus side is that he only plays cover versions. That's where Tommy Emmanuel and Earl Klugh beat him. Otherwise he is in their same height as a great guitarist. For some more details (not much actually) about this guitarist click on the picture on the left of this article.

Podcast description:

TRACK 1. Five-0. From the album KISS AND TELL. This is Martin's interpretation of the signiture tune for the old TV series Hawaii Five-0. I remember it here in Malta, not sure if anyone of your readers remembers it too. It was a detective series anyway, based, guess where....in Hawaii. Its a very catchy tune and all used to love to hum to it when the series was shown.

TRACK 2. Sun Step. From the album KISS AND TELL. I am not sure who actully played or composed the original but it sounds rather Brazilian to me. This is my favourite in fact. A really cool interpretation.

TRACK 3. Georgia on my mind. From the album ARTISTRY. This is Martin Taylor's interpretation of the well known song made famous by the late Ray Charles. A really enjoyable cover version. By the way, Artistry (the name of the album) is also the name of a guitar Martin Taylor helped develop...Click [HERE] to read about it.

Enjoy the music.




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