GARY C.W. CHUN / GCHUN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Playing it
nice and easyLee Ritenour strums
his way to Turtle Bay
for a night of jazz
Nowadays, Captain Fingers is feeling more like Captain Melody. Guitarist Lee Ritenour's nickname was synonymous with the heyday of jazz fusion of the mid-1970s, a time when technical dexterity and lightning-quick, clean runs up and down the fretboard were paired with the amplified power of rock music.
But if you take a listen to his latest album, "Rit's House," Ritenour and his guests take it nice and easy.
'Guitars Under the Stars'
Where: West End Concert Lawn, Turtle Bay ResortWhen: 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Tickets: $22 advance, $28 at the gate -- available at the resort, all Tower Records and Video locations, Rainbow Books University and Hungry Ear Kailua
Call: 293-8811
Note: Fireworks display at 9:15 p.m. Blankets and low-backed chairs will be allowed, but no coolers, outside alcohol, large bags or backpacks.
You can expect the same when he and his touring band headline Thursday's "Guitars Under the Stars" outdoor concert at the North Shore's Turtle Bay Resort. (And for those of you who want to hear some of that earlier fusion work, a remastered version of the 1980 "Best of Lee Ritenour" anthology is being released nationwide tomorrow.)
The new album represents a milestone in Ritenour's recording career. "It's my 30th project as leader," he said via a cell phone interview last week. "It's a blending of contemporary and straight-ahead jazz. It's got a lot of fine musicians in Michael McDonald, the great organist Joey DeFrancesco, George Duke, Marcus Miller, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and saxist Ernie Watts.
"A lot of albums today in all genres are filled with computer programming, but my latest album is very organic, a retro-style album with an early-'70s feel. It's very much California crossover music, combining good acoustic jazz with funky beats and more melodic structure and interplay," he said. "Rit's House" was recorded in a 40-year-old L.A. studio that uses vintage analog equipment.
Ritenour shares a history with much of his musical guests. "Most of us go back to the beginnings of fusion. I recorded my first albums as a leader with these guys; George Duke worked on my 'Captain Fingers' album back in '77. It was a pleasure to get together again with these guys. They're still at the top of their game."
AND YOU CAN include Ritenour as one of those top-notch veterans. He started out young as a L.A. session player, "and by 21, I was pretty much busy as strictly a studio musician. At the same time, I loved playing live. Every Tuesday, for five years straight, I and some of the other musicians around town had a standing gig at the Baked Potato, now the last club still standing that features live jazz. Myself and people like Larry Carlton, Tom Scott, Harvey Mason, Ernie Watts and Patrice Rushen would play there after all-day recording sessions and go until the club closed at 2 a.m."
Ritenour's longevity in the music biz can be attributed to a keen sense of who he is as a guitar player and not as a marketable solo musician. "In the early days, I had a chance to sign with various major labels, and there was talk about pushing this young, hot guitarist who, I was told, looked pretty good. But I've purposely slowed my career down to a more manageable pace. I was never in a hurry to be what I wasn't."
Getting back to his transformation as Captain Melody, Ritenour has attributed the change in approach on his albums over the years is that they progressively became "more melodic, less 'notey,' more jazz than rock guitar playing. My musical vocabulary has also increased since I also became a producer, arranger and composer. While my guitar playing skills hasn't improved or diminished over the years, there has been a growth of overall musical understanding."
A couple of examples of that growth can be found in his tribute projects that feature the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim and particularly with "A Twist of Marley." When told that Hawaii is Marley country, he immediately said that he and his band will do their version of "Get Up, Stand Up."
Due out in September is Ritenour's "A Twist of Motown," a collection of songs from people like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and the Temptations, and featuring himself, Bob James, Dave Grusin, George Benson and Gerald Albright.
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