Eric Tagg

A classic west coast album by the incredibly talented songwriter Eric Tagg. The album consists of L.A's finest musicians & is packed with beautifully crafted & sentimental songs. Eric's talent lies in writing songs with a sort of humorous twist to them. A little hard to explain, one should just take a close listen.Also, the whole album is produced by Lee Ritenour & it sounds like a follow up to his own "Rit" album. If you liked Rit then don't miss this offering. It's much better…

It must be the two Lee Ritenour's album that Eric Tagg became well-known all over the world for his vocal works: "Rit" (1980) and "Rit2" (1982). In 1981, Eric released his 3rd solo album "Dreamwalkin'" only for Japan. Eric also shared his vocal works on Ritenour’s "Banded Together" and "Portrait". Eric disappeared after the "Portrait" appearance but did some limited number of session works. In early 90's, Eric had been leading music and singing at Richland Bible Fellowship Church in Texas. Thus, we had to wait for a long time before the release of his 4th solo album "Through My Eyes" in 1997.

Lee Ritenour co-produced this with drummer Harvey Mason (of Fourplay fame) and David Foster both who he had been working with for years. The lead vocalist is Eric Tagg a Dutch vocalist who sang on several of Rit's albums, them became a preacher although he did release an album in 1997. Highlights include "No Sympathy" and "Is It You" also featuring Bill Champlin on backing vocals. Lee and Harvey wrote the liner notes. Many other fabulous musicians are featured as well.

John Lee and Gerry Brown's Blue Note debut pairs the duo with producer Skip Drinkwater, who strips their fusion approach to its bare essentials to create a moody, deeply funky sound that smolders with intensity. Bolstered by session aces spanning from Motown studio great Wah Wah Watson to Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine, Mango Sunrise burns as slow and steady as a stick of dynamite – while Drinkwater's production is undeniably slick, it also eliminates the superfluous sounds and technical wankery that undermine so much of Lee and Brown's subsequent output.

Lee Ritenour goes techno/pop/rock on an album originally released on the pop Elektra label – and as such is not recommended to jazz fans with a low tolerance for the stuff. Here Captain Fingers extends his reach to play keyboards and programmed electronic drums on a few tracks, along with very competent rock guitar .

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.

Portrait is predominantly a series of encounters between Ritenour and several guest interlopers, presumably to provide a well-rounded stylistic composite. The more heartening result is the acceleration of Ritenour's growth into a tastier, more musical guitarist, whether in the lead or sharing the spotlight.

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.