Lee Ritenour - Overtime
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Movie Reviews of Lee Ritenour - Overtime
Movie Review: This is real MUSIC
Summary: 5 Stars
The audio quality is outstanding. All tracks are great. Must have it if you love music.Movie Review: Passionated
Summary: 5 Stars
A real addition and a joy to listen to, Is like you are right in the middle.Movie Review: Rit still a hit
Summary: 4 Stars
There are probably only a handful of guitarists that stand out as being consistently brilliant musicians spanning the genres of blues, jazz, funk and latin over a period of 30 years. Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour would have to be at the top of that list. This DVD showcases not just Lee's brilliant repetoire over this period of time but highlights the contribution made by his partners in jazz over that time like Dave Grusin and Harvey Mason. In addition the DVD introduces a number of new talents (to me anyway) like Oscar Seaton on drums who plays up a storm on a variety of tracks, Melvin Davis on electric bass who plays a more funky groove than the animated Anthony Jackson. The latter pair provide one of the many interesting comparisons between the musicians, the other standout being Patrice Rushen with Dave Grusin on piano.
The vocal contributions by Kenya Hathaway in particular, and Grady Harrell are like everything else about this concert - beautifully in sync with the other musicians. Each musician makes a meaningful statement on their instrument that stands out without being overpowering.
Lee has never hogged the limelight and he continues that approach here, allowing each musician adequate space to show off their chops but never overpowering or detracting from the tune. This is jazz as its best. The interview sections of the DVD are short but make an insightful contribution to the overall experience.
Production quality is excellent as you would expect from such consummate studio performers, and the way the band is set up in a circle around Lee clearly allows them to work off each other and it is obvious how much they enjoy it.
The introduction of Ivan Lins,(songwriter of a number of tunes on the DVD) is a wonderful way to track the influence of Brazil on Lee's music. Ivan's lilting vocals and understated keyboards are just one of the many surpises you will enjoy in a host of cameo performances.
Oh I almost forgot......Lee's playing is flawless, always playing the right note at the right time with the right emphasis. He and Larry are still writing the book on how to play jazz guitar.
Movie Review: A good how-to for other musicians wanting to do a DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
It took me months to settle on which of the half dozen jazz musicians DVDs I would finally get to try out some updates to my audio gear. I am glad I settled on this one. I can always find something that could have been done a little better so I have yet to give out five stars for one of these concert DVDs, but this one comes darn close. When I am showing others who are newbies to the latest in audio/video gear just what this new medium is capable of, this is one of two concert DVDs I always use (the other being the Eagles farewell tour DVD). Lee says in one of the on-disc interviews that he chose to do the whole thing in a studio, with the musicians arranged as though they were just doing a practice session, instead of the typical face the audience stuff. And does it ever work! This arrangement allows the cameras much closer access, allows the studio techs more control over the acoustical environment, and allows the musicians to stay more tightly in sync. While some bands are as much light show as anything, certain music works well without all the frosting, and this is the case here. Fans of the Temptations will especially enjoy the well executed cover of Papa was a rolling stone. Probably my only gripes are that instead of a DTS 5.1 track we only get DD 5.1 and the video is 4:3 instead of 16:9, strange choices considering this was done in a studio, not mobile in some concert venue.
But if you like jazz, and Lee's work in particular, you will thoroughly enjoy this concert DVD.
Movie Review: Worldclass project which is thoroughly enjoyable
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been following the career of Lee Ritenour for many years and this project somehow serves as overview of his career with lots of old cohorts performing with him (like Ernie Watts, Dave Grusin and Anthony Jackson) to recreate the spirit of the original. Added are some great players of the current generation like Eric Marienthal, Chris Botti and - one of the discoveries of recent times - songstress Kenya Hathaway being a standout member of the group. The whole project is carefully conceived and flawlessly executed which is no surprise taken the amount of talent and experience amassed! This is an absolutely world-class, top-notch group of players and the result is accordingly. The sound mix is great (absolutely meeting audiophile standards), the only gripe I have is the picture quality. Despite being filmed in High Definition the DVD just comes in plain 4:3 format with black bars on top and bottom of the picture which sacrifices a lot of resolution when expanded to a large screen. Why didn't they give us an anamorphic picture? This would have been so much nicer on my 60' set. For this reason I gave the DVD only 4 stars. And the interviews in between are debatable, I agree that they would have been better tucked away in the extras section of the disc. Nevertheless, this is a superlative music DVD which is heartily recommended.