Girish Mahajan (Editor)

First Course

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Released
  
1976

First Course (1976)
  
Gentle Thoughts (1977)

Release date
  
1976

Label
  
Epic Records

Length
  
41:15

Artist
  
Lee Ritenour

Producer
  
Skip Drinkwater

First Course httpsimagesnasslimagesamazoncomimagesI4

Recorded
  
October 3, 1975 - October 15, 1975 at The Sound Labs, Hollywood, California

Genres
  
Jazz, Smooth jazz, Crossover jazz

Similar
  
Earth Run, The Captain's Journey, Gentle Thoughts, Sugar Loaf Express, Wes Bound

Lee ritenour little bit of this a little bit of that


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 Columbia Records in 1990.

Contents

Reception

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. 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" 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. 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

  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" (Dave 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 — synthesizer, electric guitar, vocals, classical guitar
  • Bill Dickinson, Louis Johnson, Chuck Rainey — bass
  • Chuck Findley — trumpet
  • Ian Underwood — synthesizer programming
  • 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)

    • Songs

    1A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That6:19
    2Sweet Syncopation4:49
    3Theme From Three Days Of The Condor4:10

    References

    First Course Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA