Lee+abraham

Rit 2 album by Lee Ritenour was released Jan 25, 2005 on the Collectables label. As a producer and musical arranger, Lee Ritenour has proven to be a tasteful genius, and it never shows more strongly than on here.

GRP's generally well-chosen 1991 Collection covers an entire decade of Lee Ritenour releases from Elektra and GRP. As such, those years seem to form a late-'70s plateau descending into a commercial valley by the early part of the '80s and then gradually ascending a slope as Rit's playing grows and deepens in the decade's final years. Some of the high points are the Latin-inflected numbers from Festival ("Latin Lover") and Portrait ("Asa") and two excellent straight-ahead excerpts from Stolen Moments ("24th Street Blues," "Waltz for Carmen"), the latter two with lots of Wes Montgomery-like octave work. And even "Is It You?," Ritenour's pop hit from 1981, comes off as a good, catchy piece of record-making. Recommended for those who only want a sample of Lee Ritenour's voluminous solo output.

Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour were well advised to choose a more traditional constellation for the recordings and so, real drummers, percussionists, acoustic pianos, acoustic or semi-acoustic guitars were used, though Grusin didn't want to give up his keyboards completely. Fortunately he held back with them, and so we have to do with a relatively typical west coast jazz fusion disc from the eighties, but quite above average.
The interest for Latin influences is remarkable. Not only were compositions by Ivan Lins chosen, but on Harlequin (Arlequim Desconhecido), the opener, the composer is used as a singer, also on the song Before It's Too Late (Antes Que Seja Tarde), thus bringing him closer to the American and international audience. And he sings in his native language, Portuguese…

Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour were well advised to choose a more traditional constellation for the recordings and so, real drummers, percussionists, acoustic pianos, acoustic or semi-acoustic guitars were used, though Grusin didn't want to give up his keyboards completely. Fortunately he held back with them, and so we have to do with a relatively typical west coast jazz fusion disc from the eighties, but quite above average.
The interest for Latin influences is remarkable. Not only were compositions by Ivan Lins chosen, but on Harlequin (Arlequim Desconhecido), the opener, the composer is used as a singer, also on the song Before It's Too Late (Antes Que Seja Tarde), thus bringing him closer to the American and international audience. And he sings in his native language, Portuguese…

Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour were well advised to choose a more traditional constellation for the recordings and so, real drummers, percussionists, acoustic pianos, acoustic or semi-acoustic guitars were used, though Grusin didn't want to give up his keyboards completely. Fortunately he held back with them, and so we have to do with a relatively typical west coast jazz fusion disc from the eighties, but quite above average.
The interest for Latin influences is remarkable. Not only were compositions by Ivan Lins chosen, but on Harlequin (Arlequim Desconhecido), the opener, the composer is used as a singer, also on the song Before It's Too Late (Antes Que Seja Tarde), thus bringing him closer to the American and international audience. And he sings in his native language, Portuguese…

John Lee Hooker - John Lee Hooker (The Galaxy LP) (1962) {Soul Jam Records Remastered & Expanded 2016}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 265 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 139 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 51 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remastered
© 1962, 2016 Galaxy / Fantasy Records / Soul Jam Records | 600876
Blues / Electric Blues / Acoustic Blues / Blues Revival / Delta Blues

This Soul Jam release presents one of Hooker's most difficult to find albums on CD, the eponymous John Lee Hooker. It was originally released in 1962 by the Fantasy Records' subsidiary Galaxy label. The album includes a selection of hard-to-find recordings taped with his electric guitar during different sessions in the 1950s, all of them produced by Bernard Besman, the man who helped define Hooker's recorded sound, which has often relied upon heavy walking beats, boogies, and an eerie atmosphere. In addition to the original masterpiece, this remastered collector's edition also contains 8 bonus tracks from the same period.