Customer Reviews

6 String Theory

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone needs a few CDs in their arsenal to use as, "Show Off" recordings for their car audio system or home stereo. This is one of them. The mix, clarity and production of this CD is outstanding. Crank it up!

The music is great too. I became a fan of Lee Ritenor after picking up his "Wesbound" CD on which he pays tribute to Wes Montgomery. But make no mistake, this is NOT a smooth jazz recording. It's a mix of blues, jazz, fusion, rock and even classical. There's something here for everyone.

I HIGHLY recommend this record!

The first tune, Lay It Down, with Ritenour and John Scofield sets the tone. They have a scorching "call and response" that takes up about the lasst two minutes of the song. Gentlemen, would you consider doing a duo project - wow! Each genre of songs is awesome for its kind: the blues tunes are awesome, the rock tunes are awesome, the acoustic tunes are awesome. Fnatastic CD!

[...]...[...].....The CD is Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory....anyone who paid attention to the promo's should know that Rit invited many of the greatest guitarists currently alive, over 20 of them, to record a project in complete devotion to teh guitar and several forms of playing it.

The only Cd in recent memory with so many heavyweights was Les Paul's tribute CD a few years back. This CD grooves you, ROCKS like you can't imagine, Moves you in so many places musically that no one "FORMAT" will define this project other than ONE word.....

AWESOME

A partial list of the talent.... BB King, SLASH, John Scofield, Vince Gill, George Benson, Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, Keb Mo, Joe Bonamassa, Pat Martino, Mike Stern, Robert Cray...and there is more...you get the idea

My CD arrived as I had pre-ordered this based on seeing Lee Ritenour live in Santa Monica CA last Feb and at Cap Jazz Festival in Baltimore MD several weeks ago...had no idea what I was in store for....

Simply Put ....this CD has blown me away...it will do the same to you or you are deaf, dumb or have no taste in the celebration of music made with a guitar!!

I love the album. The other reviewers have said what needs to be said... excellent playing from some of the top guitarists in their respective genres, well produced, and well arranged.

My only quibble is that, because I purchased this as an MP3 download,I don't have a readily-available listing of who is playing what on what track. Here it is for your convenience. (Personal fav'? Track 3!)

Personnel:

LEE RITENOUR: Guitars
KEB' MO': Guitar/Vocals
TAJ MAHAL: Guitar/Harmonica/Vocals
PAT MARTINO: Guitar
JOE BONAMASSA: Guitar/Vocals
ROBERT CRAY: Guitar/Vocals
NEAL SCHON: Guitar
MIKE STERN: Guitar
GUTHRIE GOVAN: Guitar
SLASH: Guitar
STEVE LUKATHER: Guitar
GEORGE BENSON: Guitar
B.B. King: Guitar/Vocals
VINCE GILL: Guitar/Vocals
JONNY LANG: Guitar/Vocals
JOE ROBINSON: Guitar
ANDY McKEE: Guitar/Steel String/Acoustic Guitar
TOMOYASU HOTEI:Guitar
SHON BOUBIL: Guitar
JOHN SCOFIELD: Guitar
JOEY DE FRANCESCO: Organ
LARRY GOLDINGS: Keyboards (1,2,4,5,6,9,14)
JOHN BEASLEY: Keyboards (11,12,13,)
MELVIN LEE DAVIS: Bass (1,13)
NATHAN EAST: Bass (2,9,)
TAL WILKENFELD: Bass (4,5,6,14)
JIMMY JOHNSON: Bass (11,12)
HARVEY MASON: Drums (1,2,9)
VINNIE COLAIUTA: Drums (4,5,6,14)
WILL KENNEDY: Drums (3,8,11)
SIMON PHILLIPS: Drums (13)
PAULINHO DA Costa: Percussion (11,12)

Tracks.

01.-Lay It Down (LEE RITENOUR and JOHN SCOFIELD)

02.-Am I Wrong (KEB' MO' and TAJ MAHAL)

03.-L.P. (For Les Paul) (JOEy DeFRANCESCO, PAT MARTINO, and LEE RITENOUR)

04.-Give Me One Reason (JOE BONAMASSA and ROBERT CRAY)

05.-"68" (NEAL SCHON, SLASH, and STEVE LUKATHER)

06.-In Your Dreams (LEE RITENOUR, NEAL SCHON, and STEVE LUKATHER)

07.-My One and Only Love (GEORGE BENSON)

08.-Moon River (GEORGE BENSON)

09.-Why I Sing the Blues (KeB'MO',B.B.KING,VINCE GILL,LEE RITENOUR and JONNY LANG)

10.-Daddy Longlicks (JOE ROBINSON)

11.-Shape of My Heart (LEE RITENOUR, STEVE LUKATHER, and ANDY McKEE)

12.-Drifting (ANDY McKEE)

13.-Freeway Jam (LEE RITENOUR, MIKE STERN, and TOMOYASU HOTEI)

14.-Fives (GUTHRIE GOVAN and TAL WILKENFELD)

15.-Caprices, Op. 20, No. 2 and 7 (SHON BOUBLIL)

Length:: 0:35 Mins

Lots of great musicians, good variety, great production. Buy it!

Lee Ritenour assembled a group of fantastic guitarists who provide a wide variety of styles, tones and tunes to make this a cd that is a must have for guitar lovers. From the elders to the youngers, BB to Joe Robinson; blues, rock and jazz, Joe B. to George B., and too many others to name, this is ear candy. Throw in some excellent bass from the likes of Tal Wilkenfeld and keyboards from Joey DeFrancesco and you have some phenomenal stuff.

Grammy winning guitarist, Lee Ritenour, has a new release that hitchhikes on Yamaha's Six String Theory guitar playing competition to create an eclectic mix of guitar based music. When the liner notes include "guitar played" and "amp used" for each track and player - you know this release is aimed primarily toward guitar fans.

This is not a traditional Lee Ritenour record. While he's one of the producers, his guitar (or songwriting) isn't featured on every track. In fact, some of the standout tracks (my favorite, "fives" featuring new shred master Guthrie Govan, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta) have Lee in the control booth.

This is quite an assemblage of players, some well known names like B.B. King, George Benson, Steve Lukather, and Vince Gill (to name a few) and some lesser ones all get a chance to play and show off their chops, sometimes with Lee and other times solo or in other configurations that boast a broad span of music genres.

As is the case with many superstar pairings some are great, some are not, but for fans of each particular artist - worth a listen or two. For guitar fans who can travel the road from classic gut-string, through the blues, to straight ahead jazz, then to hard rocking shred - this is the disc to have. Holds up with repeated listening. A very entertaining disc.

In his 50 years of playing guitar, Lee has proved himself a most versatile player, first as a studio player, then as a solo act, then through many collaborations with notable players through the years. Along the way he founded the modern jazz mainstay Fourplay (now featuring Larry Carlton on guitar). Quite a career for sure.

This disc highlights the many styles Lee can play, and his raucous playing on Jeff Beck's Freeway Jam (along with Mike Stern and Tomoyosu Hatei) was for me a real surprise. He really gets down!

Great disc. From Concord Music Group.

Perhaps the only disappoinment, is rock people will pass it by because its Lee Ritenour. This collection offers so much more then the usual Ritenour tasty somewhat non challenging new age jazz thing. Steve Lukather's influence is obvious, and I really appreciate the players he put together. I could think of a few others to add, but thats always the case. Good songs, great players, no one is trying to outdue anyone which is what makes this work.
Worth the price.......

...brilliant artistry, superb sound and diverse chops from some of the best guitarists on earth would be a start. This compilation takes you to so many different places emotionally. If you love amazing musicianship, you're going to love this. If you're a guitar player, you'll be in heaven!!

There are blues legends aplenty, B.B. King, Johnny Lang, Robert Cray and Keb Mo, jazzers Mike Stern, John Scofield and George Benson, rock stars such as Slash, Steve Lukather and Neal Schon and country star Vince Gill, who is an often underrated chicken picker.

I have been playing guitar for 30 yrs and I have to say!
This is simply an amazing album!, if your into Guitar work of any kind this will make you very happy...Jazz, Blues, Rock, Classical are all represented on this album.
Lee has outdone himself on this album! One of the best this year IMO.!