Customer Reviews

Rit's House

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

 

 

"Rit's House" is a deep record with lots to chew on. Often one song will have more than one style or groove. "Mizrab" starts out with an exotic Mediterranean feel only to morph into a pure funk delight. Sampling from the original version by Hungarian guitarist, Gabor Szabo, is used, including Billy Cobhams's drum riff. As Rit plays his first notes in "13" - has there ever been a tone so understatedly cool? "78th & 3rd" scorches from beginning to end. SMOOTH JAZZ LOVERS BEWARE. "Rit's House" is aptly titled as this funky and breezy tune could be the "poster song" for contemporary West Coast jazz - a real foot-tapping, finger-clicking tune. The introverted "Just Listen" takes a step beyond the Bob James sound and I can hear Fourplay sighing now. "Olinda" is a brazilian flavored tune punctuated by Rit's funky octaves. "Party Time" could be part two to the theme to "The Odd Couple."

Has Rit made a statement as being possibly one of the best jazz players alive? I think he has.

I might add that the whole Verve catalog is quite impressive.

I've been a Rit fan for a couple of decades, and I've witnessed his highs and lows over that period. There is no doubt he is one of the most gifted guitar players in the world. The question in my mind has always been one of artistic direction. Lee is so talented that he is capable of playing just about any style of music his wants. And therein lies the problem...and opportunity. Having worked the LA studio scene for years, Lee always surrounds himself with some of the finest musicians in the world--this record being no exception. His main influence is Wes Montgomery, which speaks volume about his superb musical taste. The Wes influence comes through loud and clear the track "78th and 3rd," which is a great tune. There are many nice tracks on this record--Mizrab is a personal favorite. The weakest part of the record, in my view, is the cover of Sting's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic." Michael McDonald's voice (which I admire--especially on his work with Steely Dan) and Rit's arrangement seem out of synch. It's a tribute to Lee's greatness that he can still put out high quality records after all these years. I give Rit's House three stars--not Lee's finest outing, but a good record nonetheless.

Rit's House is an invitation to remember all Rit's evolution. This is a multigenre CD. Module 105 is for the post-modern jazz he has played on albums like This is Love and the "Twist of" series. We find a more mature Ritenour on Just Listen than back to 1991 with Bob James' Grand Piano Canyon album (From that disc started the idea of creating Fourplay). Condor is the new version of Grusin's Three Days of The Condor and the lovely Little Dolphin Dreamin' is a second part of Dolphin Dreams. This disc is a must have for all the Ritenour's fans. I've listen Lee since I was 14 years old (just about 1997) and now I'm the happy owner of 27 discs of this superb musician, just as Lee explains in the Wes Bound CD booklet....The music is intoxicating...

This is the first lee ritenour cd i've owned. It was a Christmas gift, and honestly it's all I've listened to in the car since then. It's truly astounding. There is not a bad track on the entire cd, while I do think the Michael McDonald vocal is a little unbalanced on the whole. I would've preferred to hear that song done as an instrumental. Regardless, I am most impressed with ritenour's talent in playing compostions by others and his own songwriting. The opening and closing tracks on the cd are original, and both are compelling and addictive. Whether you're new to lee ritenour or an old fan, this cd is a must-have in your collection!

Lee seems to be getting better & better. Another brilliant album from the master. Since some of his early material it has to be one of my favorites too date.

It's Rit you know, you like him or you don't. I have several albums of his (some of them are even quite good) and all I can say is that Rit is sure a great musician, with a peculiar style and that he has the honour (??) to be the one who invented this genre way back in the late seventies, early eighties. What kind of music is this Rit's trademark music style? He plays this sort of very friendly melodic music smooth "jazz" which incorporates a lot of noble influences, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, George Benson, all the sophisticated players you can think of, but where those musicians often recorded impressive works of art (Wes everytime he touched a guitar), Rit release only "commercial" albums, that appeal in one tune or another almost to everyone. This is his goal. This isn't to say that Rit's music is bad, but just to express my feeling about his albums which to me are always something between Kenny G and something more serious (very near the G man) ... but he seems unable to understand that this music is nothing really precious, it doesn't matter how many unbelievable musicians he put at work or how well he played. It is the project, the attitude that is always wrong to really put his music on the map of serious music lovers. By the way here's another album very "commercial" in its attitude ... there's something for everyone and the taste of this music is so ... sweet, too much for real. My teeth are going to ache for sure in the next days!! Too much sugar in this music!! But obviously the album is played as only master musicians could do (masters such as Lee himself), so how could you judge another album from Lee? There are really nice tunes here (I appreciate the version of Sting's "Every little thing" for example) such as the tune played with Hammond wizard Joey De Francesco. I give 4 stars to this album, but they could even be zero if it is the serious artistic value the one we're talking about ... if we're talking about a product this is another story, and if it's a mere product it is a very well done one. Everything is in place, everything is perfect. Maybe people unaware of what Jazz is about could think this is Jazz ... No my friends. Too much perfection and too much frindly attitude to be art. It is rare that art is friendly ... art is something that shakes you, that moves you, that moves (sometimes with violence) things inside your inner self. It is not a "perfect homework" that every diligent schoolboy could do ... anyway, this is Rit as we all know him. Another "good" Rit's album. You know what to expect.

First, I'm not a fan of Lee Ritenour or other smooth jazz artists. I heard many of Lee's recordings and none of them really 'hit' me, after listening to this CD I think this his best recording so far.

Here's several tunes that I think it's nice:
"13" - The brass give a nice feeling. Not bad.
78th & 3rd - Straight-ahead jazz featuring Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond. This tune deserve 5 stars because of Joey. If you understand "jazz scales", you will know that Lee' solo sounds a little bit bland and average. Listen to John Scofield's EnRoute or Pat Metheny Trio 99>00 and you will know what I mean.
A Little Dolphin Dreaming - Sweet music, nice for relaxing.
Party Time & Just Listen - Lee with Peter Erskine. He should let Peter Erskine doing drums solo then I will give this CD 4 stars.

Overall the CD still sounds more commercial (smooth jazz/easy listening) than 'real' jazz, but I don't mind to listen to several songs from this CD as an appetizer. ;-) For the main meal, I suggest Metheny & Scofield.