Customer Reviews

Captain Fingers

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

 

 

Captain Fingers - Lee Ritenour's second studio album, and what a fantastic album it is! After his first album "First Course", critics complained, saying that his music was too lightweight. This album was his response. Here you will find some of the greatest jazz musicians of the fusion era working in an incredibly tight studio setting led by Captain Fingers himself, Lee Ritenour! From the opening riff of the title track, you know that you're going to be in for a full-on, in-your-face jazz/rock/funk fusion experience.

On one hand, you have the powerful jazz/rock/funk classics like Fly By Night, Margarita, Space Glide and the title track, and then there are a couple of tracks that demonstrate a sense of strong emotional power and Lee's ability to play in more of a ballad-environment (Dolphin Dreams and Sun Song). His version of Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" with Bill Champlin on vocals is also great.

The various musicians who work with him on the tracks do nothing but compliment his playing (For example, Ernie Watts' solo on "Fly By Night", Harvey Mason's drumming on the title track and Dave Grusin's beautiful string arrangement and keyboard work on "Sun Song").

I urge anyone who is a fan of the music of George Duke, Tom Scott, Herbie Hancock (Headhunters & Gentle Thoughts periods), Return To Forever or Steely Dan to give this album a try. From beginning to end, this album is amazing (As the final track "Sun Song" is fading out, you'll be left wishing for more, at which stage you move to his next album "The Captain's Journey"!).

Ignore anything negative you've heard/read about this album, and give it a try - you'll be hooked!

This is the album that changed my musical direction. You see, I was already into the performers listed below, Stevie Wonder, EW&F, and many other hard rock groups, etc. - but without realizing it I was bored and wanted BOTH of these styles in one. Boom, someone plays Space Glide for me and I received my first introduction into the fusion/jazz rock scene. This same thing happened to many other listerners as well as guitarists. A historic album.

I have been listening to this recording for more than 15 years, it is an all-time favorite

This CD will always be a part of my collection.I first bought it on vinyl over 20 years ago and I still listen to it. Lee Ritenour just blazes in Captain Fingers. Sons of Champlin singer goes off in Isn't She Lovely as does Lee on guitar. Space Glide is a catchy rythmic tune with a great sax solo and great guitar work. Margarita and Fly By Night are very melodic guitar tunes with lots of creative changes. The rhythm section is tight and the guitar playing is awesome. The sax and keyboards just make it a more tasty blend of music. All the musicians are skilled pros. I highly recommend this CD to jazz/rock guitar fans.

I have fond memories of this album going back 30 years. I recall purchasing it together with Ronnie Foster's Cheshire Cat " & Neil Larsen's album "Jungle Fever". Please though let's not let our sentimentality cause us to be overexaggerant. It's a good album but in NO way is it on par with anything by Hendrix or Beck. Lee Ritenour is a gifted guitarist but realistically he hasn't evoked alot of imitators like Jimi or Jeff. Lee hasn't truly changed the course of jazz/rock guitar. Many like Larry Carlton, Steve Khan, Chuck Loeb, Steve Laury play just as proficiently as Lee.
It's a proven fact "Axis;Bold As Love" & "Blow By Blow" are trendsetting, groundbreaking albums and will remain so 100 years from now, THIS one ,however,is at best just another average jazz fusion effort from 1977 which today in 2007 does sound dated and pedestrian in places like alot of '70s jazz fusion. Some from that era have stood the test of time better than others.

"Captain Fingers" is a sound album in which Lee Ritenour is again backed by some of the best session musicians available. Patrice Rushen, Harvey Mason, Dennis Budimir, Abe Laboriel,Ernie Watts, Mike Porcaro and lots more.
I recall it didn't receive as many fond reviews back in 1977 as his debut album "First Course" which was a little less commercial and more imaginative.
"Margarita" is a funky tune with those famous rhythm breaks during the solos which were characteristic of 70s fusion.
"Space Glide" has that Steve Khan feel to it. Contains a nice guitar solo and powerful sax from Ernie Watts.
"Fly By Night" has a disco feel to it and was played alot in clubs back in London.
"Dolphin Dance" has always been my favourite track although Lee tends to overdo the effects. It's very dreamy and lush.
The version of Stevie Wonders "Isn't She Lovely" seems a tad corny especially when Lee launches into a rock solo during the coda but then i've never particularly liked this song anyway and don't consider it as one of Stevies most imaginative compositions.
"Sun Song" is another of my favourites from this album. This is truly Lee at his best.
We all have our personal favourites and sometimes are offended when others fail to appreciate our likes but we have to be realistic when reviewing CDs. Very few albums in history have been REAL trendsetters.
I suppose Miles's "Kind Of Blue" is regarded as the main one.For guitarists anything by Charlie Christian or Wes Montgomery's "Smokin' At The Half Note" are heralded as landmark albums. Very few jazz fusion albums, as good as they were and as colourful as their covers were, really became landmarks.

I'm a fan of Lee Ritenour and was delighted when I came across this and it being advertised as recorded in Blue Spec would be Wow! anticipated a high quality remaster. But, when I received it, it was not a Blue Spec disc but an ordinary CD. Fortunately it was still a well recorded disc. NOT AS STATED IN AMAZON.

A fresh air into a light jazz by Ritenour, with the support of a great sax and his powerful guitar always present. "Captain finger" is a delicious album (with a pretty cover picture), where you can find him as a guest for Stevie Wonder, even though you can also listen to a lot of guests-musicians from the funky fusion world. Think of tunes like "Margarita", the title track and naturally "Fly by night"- and you can't forget such an easy but impressive ever green bunch of classics!! His approach is direct and above all the Dave Grusin's arrangement within "Sun Song", with his pretty strings, is remarkable. In fact this latter musician makes me think of the tasteful moments inside the US jazz world!! Of course I prefer another kind of fusion, like that unique composed by Pat Metheny, but in this particular case I will make an exception...

Four stars is the evaluation, because in the nineties you couldn't find so many memorable jazz tracks- and moreover the present product is enriched by means of an intelligent funky-fusion; even though of course- out of a commercial (but intelligent) jazz-genre- perhaps you erase an half star at least, but it's a minor question after all! The music works well here and for me that's enough!

Along with the classic Captain Fingers & Dolphin Dreams, this CD shows the early progression of Lee's command of the guitar. An absolute staple for Lee Ritenour fans. My only reservation is that it's too short!

This LP is without a doubt Ritenour's finest record (or CD for you Gen Xers). It stands the test of time if not for any other reason that the compositions are very memorable and listenable 30 years after the fact.

Hearing the song "Captain Fingers" for the first time changed my life. Yes, it is mildly reminiscent of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, but the thing most folks miss the boat on with Lee Ritenour is his ability to arrange. Everyone one of his CDs, even the one's I don't care so much for, are impeccably arranged. And Dave Grusin vanilla? That's the best damn vanilla you will ever find! Dave and Lee spawned a whole genre of imitators. Something they did must have been on point.

Every track on this CD is catchy and well-written, but let's face it. This CD was not intending to be Return To Forever or Weather Report. It was designed to be very palatable, and it achieves this better than most other CDs to date. The best tracks are "Captain Fingers" and "Margarita." "Sun Song" and "Dolphin Dreams" are simply beautiful. "Fly By Night" pays homage to Wes and Benson (George Benson's "Breezin'" came out only the year before) without compromising song craft.

Calling this project "dated" is like calling Jimi Hendrix dated. The imitated can never truly be classified as dated. Phil Collins' "Face Value" LP started an annoying trend in the 80s of over processed drums. I find it hard to listen to most 80s music because of the crap drum sound, yet "Face Value" stands the test of time because it was the trendsetter.

If you don't have this CD and you are a Rit fan, get it now. It is long overdue.

If you are using synthesizers, you'd better have good melodies and great layering, because the texture and feel are somewhat lost. The musicians here are top notch (except for Grusin - he is SO vanilla), but this cd still is uninspired. Plenty of precision but not enough feel.
If you want something funky, try Stevie Wonder, Rufus with Chaka Khan, Earth Wind & Fire, or George Duke (Brazillian Love Affair). If you want fusion, try Pat Metheny (old stuff), Spyro Gyra (old stuff) or Steps Ahead.
There are a lot of great albums out there that make me feel like I have better things to listen to than Ritenour.
If you really like Ritenour, this is the best I have heard from him.
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I have to rethink this after reading 21and12,s comments. When I started listening to Ritenour about 15 years ago, I thought this album was great. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is not familiar with fusion. However, Ritenour has not stood the test of time for me, while many other artists have. My point above is to not stop here if this is new to you - keep digging for better music. I am currently absorbed with Mongo Santamaria, Poncho Sanchez and Cal Tjader and regret that I didn't spend more time looking for these artists long ago.