First Course

Infobox Album |
Name = First Course
Type = studio
Artist = Lee Ritenour


Released = 1976
Recorded = October 3, 1975 - October 15, 1975
Genre = Crossover jazz
Jazz pop
Length = 41:15
Label = Epic (1976)
Sony (1990)
Producer =
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hxfqxqtgldke link]
Last album =
This album = "First Course"
(1976)
Next album = "Gentle Thoughts"
(1977):"A "first course" in cookery refers to an entrée.""First Course" is the first studio album released by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. The album was released in 1976 on LP by the label Epic Records. It was re-released on CD by Sony Records in 1990.

The album was made at the time that Ritenour was still a session musician, perhaps considered the best of the time in Los Angeles, California next to Larry Carlton.cite web|url=http://www.vintageguitar.com/artists/details.asp?ID=82|title="...Rit on the Right"|author=Willie G. Moseley|accessdate=2007-06-05] He drafted friends and peers from Dante's and the Baked Potato club in Studio City, Los Angeles, California to record this "artifact of the early L.A. jazz/funk sound"cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=10:hxfqxqtgldke|title=First Course at Allmusic|author=Richard S. Ginell|accessdate=2007-06-05] Ritenour was worried about creating the album, as he has stated "I was still thinking as a "studio musician", and I was very worried about having my own identity on the guitar, because up until that time my job as a studio musician had been to be a "chameleon" ... it wasn’t until several years later that I felt more comfortable with who I was stylistically."

Financially, there were issues with the album, since the "sound perplexed studio executives" who were mainly looking for the next "Bitches Brew" or "Return to Forever".cite web|url=http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/r/ritenourlee-bestof.shtml|title=Review of The Best of Lee Ritenour|date=October 23, 2003|accessdate=2007-06-05] This was melodic rhythm and blues-based jazz that didn't find a home until new wave-type radio stations became mainstream over a decade later.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Lee Ritenour; except where indicated

#"Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That" — 6:16
#"Sweet Syncopation" — 4:47
#"Theme from Three Days of the Condor" (Dave Grusin) — 4:08
#"Fatback" — 4:18
#"Memories Past" — 1:51
#"Caterpillar" (Dave Grusin) — 4:21
#"Canticle for the Universe" (Jerry Peters) — 6:12
#"Wild Rice" — 5:32
#"Ohla Maria (Amparo)" (Antonio Carlos Jobim) — 3:50

Personnel

*Lee Ritenour — synthesizer, electric guitar, vocals, classical guitar
*Bill Dickinson, Louis Johnson, Chuck Rainey — bass
*Chuck Findley — trumpet
*Dave Green, Ian Underwood — synthesizer
*Ed Greene, Harvey Mason, Sr. — drums
*Dave Grusin — organ, synthesizer, piano, clavinet
*Larry Nash, Michael Omartian, Jerry Peters, Patrice Rushen — keyboards, clavinet
*Jerome Richardson — saxophone (baritone)
*Frank Rosolino — trombone
*Tom Scott — saxophone (tenor), lyricon
*Jerry Steinholtz — percussion, conga
*Ernie Watts — saxophone (tenor)

Production:
*Ron Coro — art direction, design
*Sam Emerson — photography
*Mick Haggerty, Tom Steele — design

Reception

Allmusic observed Ritenour's hesitance when they said his "identity is still quite diffuse; he knows how to establish a fine rhythm groove but his tone is generic in a mostly rock-oriented vein." Still, reviewer Richard Ginell comments that the "tracks convey a vicarious energy that lift them above the journeyman level." PopMatters comments that the tracks "feature a loose, cinematic statement with an original arrangement" that turn into "sleek, after hours anthem [s] ."

References