First Course
- A "first course" in cookery refers to an entrée.
| First Course | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Studio album by Lee Ritenour | ||||
| Released | 1976 | |||
| Recorded | October 3 – 15, 1975 | |||
| Studio | The Sound Labs, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Crossover jazz, smooth jazz | |||
| Length | 41:15 | |||
| Label | Epic (1976), Columbia (1990) | |||
| Producer | Skip Drinkwater | |||
| Lee Ritenour chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
First Course is the debut album by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. The album was released on LP by Epic Records in 1976 and on CD by Columbia Records in 1990.
Reception
First Course was made when Ritenour was considered the best session musician in Los Angeles next to guitarist Larry Carlton.[2] He recorded the album with peers from Dante's and the Baked Potato club in Studio City, California. AllMusic called the album an "artifact of the early L.A. jazz/funk sound".[3]
Ritenour worried about the album. "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."[2]
Financial problems plagued the album because the "sound perplexed studio executives" were looking for the next Bitches Brew or Return to Forever.[4] This was melodic rhythm and blues-based jazz that didn't find a home until new wave radio stations became mainstream over a decade later.[4]
Track listing
All tracks written by Lee Ritenour except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That" | 6:16 |
| 2. | "Sweet Syncopation" | 4:47 |
| 3. | "Theme from Three Days of the Condor" (Dave Grusin) | 4:08 |
| 4. | "Fatback" | 4:18 |
| 5. | "Memories Past" | 1:51 |
| 6. | "Caterpillar" (Grusin) | 4:21 |
| 7. | "Canticle for the Universe" (Jerry Peters) | 6:12 |
| 8. | "Wild Rice" | 5:32 |
| 9. | "Ohla Maria (Amparo)" (Antônio Carlos Jobim) | 3:50 |
Personnel
- Lee Ritenour – electric guitar, classical guitar, synthesizer, vocals
- Chuck Findley – trumpet
- Frank Rosolino – trombone
- Tom Scott – tenor saxophone, lyricon
- Ernie Watts – tenor saxophone
- Jerome Richardson – baritone saxophone
- Dave Grusin – organ, synthesizer, piano, clavinet
- Larry Nash, Michael Omartian, Jerry Peters, Patrice Rushen – keyboards, clavinet
- Bill Dickinson, Louis Johnson, Chuck Rainey – bass guitar
- Ed Greene, Harvey Mason – drums
- Jerry Steinholtz – percussion
- Ian Underwood – synthesizer programming
References
- ↑ Ginell, Richard S. "First Course". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- 1 2 Willie G. Moseley. "...Rit on the Right". Archived from the original on 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ↑ Ginell, Richard. "First Course – Lee Ritenour". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
- 1 2 "Review of The Best of Lee Ritenour". October 23, 2003. Retrieved 2007-06-05.