LEE RITENOUR - OVERTIME

Grammy Award-winning multi-genre guitarist Lee Ritenour’s debut Blu-Ray, Overtime, is set for release on June 19. Recorded over two days in a Burbank, California studio, almost three hours in length,

Overtime is a tour-de-force of jam-happy proportions as the guitarist is placed in a variety of environments that show off his extraordinary skill of adapting to each and every genre-specific moment. From the soulful funk of The Temptations’ “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” to a stunning set of Brazilian samba to the jazz-rock fusion of his early days, Rit rocks, swings, and rolls in a progressive mélange of satisfying chops and intelligence.

There’s an innate feel in these grooves that one cannot only respond to intellectually but viscerally…in the gut. The songs are culled from 1977’s Captain Fingers, 1978’s Captain’s Journey, 1981’s Rit, 1988’s Festival, 1992’s Wes Bound (a tribute to the legendary guitarist Wes Montgomery) and 2003’s Twist Of Motown.

And The Cast! Luminaries include the Grammy Award-winning vocalist/pianist Patrice Rushen; trumpeter Chris Botti (who has had four #1 jazz albums); flute/sax man Ernie Watts (from Charlie Haden’s Quartet West and the 1981 Rolling Stones tour); multi-instrumentalist Eric Marienthal (sax, flute, piccolo) from The Chick Corea Elektric Band; Peruvian percussionist Alex Acuna; acclaimed soul singer Kenya Hathaway (daughter of the late Donny Hathaway); drummer Harvey Mason (from Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters) and many others. Composer/arranger/pianist Dave Grusin (with whom Ritenour won a 1985 Grammy Award for Harlequin) shares the bill with the band on a four-track 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival bonus: “Wes Bound” “Stolen Moments” “The Firm” and “Lay It Down.”

Lee Ritenour has spiced up sessions and stages for everyone from Tony Bennett, Lena Horne and Steely Dan to Pink Floyd and Dizzy Gillespie. He’s been at the forefront of fusion, has crafted cool improvisations in the mode of Miles Davis, contributed to super-group Fourplay and has made pop inroads into Brazilian music. Throughout Ritenour’s 30-album career, his individuality and resourcefulness always shines through.

TRACK LISTING:
1) Party Time
2) Blue In Green
3) Mizrab
4) Sugarloaf Express
5) Harlequin
6) Beyond The Storm
7) Dinorah Dinorah
8) P.A.L.S.
9) Captain Fingers
10) Morning Glory
11) Captain Caribe
12) Night Rhythms
13) A Little Bumpin’
14) Water To Drink (Agua de Beber)
15) Possibilities
16) Papa Was A Rolling Stone
17) Is It You?
18) Thirteen
19) She Walks This Earth