There have been a number of high profile and highly successful record labels bearing the initials of their founders.
Probably the most notable (sorry, no pun intended) was A&M Records, a label started literally in Herb Alpert's garage
which, with a little help from the business savvy of his partner Jerry Moss, grew into a behemoth which was ultimately
sold to Universal decades later for half a billion dollars. A&M distributed another initialed imprint for several years, the
jazz based CTi, which stood for producer Creed Taylor's name. CTi's albums basically invented the whole "smooth jazz"
phenomenon years before that genre was given its current name. But a third label appeared in the late seventies, one
which in a way was modeled on the success of A&M, where a headlining musician partnered with a businessman to
issue not only his own records, but those who shared a certain artistic kinship with him. GRP stood for Grusin – Rosen
productions, and it or course offered the sterling work of composer-arranger-keyboard player Dave Grusin, a man who
not so coincidentally had had a long relationship with A&M, notably providing some incredibly rich and gorgeous
orchestrations for what was for several years the most successful act on the label aside from Alpert himself, Sergio
Mendes & Brasil '66. GRP, like CTi, offered a huge gamut of what might be classified "smooth jazz" artists, though GRP
had the tendency to push the genre into some unexpected territory and few if any of its acts would probably ever be
relegated to the "wallpaper music" category that so much of contemporary smooth jazz seems to inhabit. One of GRP's
smartest decisions was signing Lee Ritenour, one of the most successful session guitarists of the 20th century, a guy
who got his start as a teenager doing a Mamas & Papas session (where he earned the nickname Captain Fingers), and
who went on to help formulate the genre that would become known as smooth jazz. Ritenour had done a number of
sessions with Grusin, including one of Grusin's first releases for GRP, NY/LA Dream Band, and though Ritenour
had already released several successful solo albums before joining GRP, he really seemed to blossom on the label,
especially with regard to Ritenour's exploration of the Brazilian canon, something perhaps aided by Grusin's long
association with Mendes.
Overtime is a bit of a play on words, because Ritenour is offering a career retrospective that looks back, well,
over time to reexamine several distinct periods of the guitarist's long and legendary career. The concert has four basic
sections: acoustic jazz, Brazilian music, Lee's early fusion tunes and finally popular selections from his more recent
albums. What is clear from this great collection, filmed at Enterprise Studios in Burbank before a small but very vocally
appreciative audience, is just how fluid Ritenour is in virtually every genre he chooses to play. Of course, it doesn't hurt
to be surrounded by a fantastic group of collaborators, and here Ritenour's long history as a session guy and solo star
bears incredible fruit, with this set being manned (and womanned) by an incredible variety of top flight names. Lee's
band includes:
Dave Grusin: Piano, Fender Rhodes
Ivan Lins: Vocals, Fender Rhodes
Patrice Rushen: Piano, Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer
Harvey Mason: Drums
Alex Acuna: Drums
Chris Botti: Trumpet
Ernie Watts: Tenor & Soprano Saxophone
Eric Marienthal: Alto & Tenor Saxophone, Flute
Anthony Jackson: Bass
Melvin Davis: Electric Bass
Dave Carpenter: Acoustic Bass
Barnaby Finch: Keyboards
Oscar Seaton: Drums
Kenya Hathaway: Vocals
Grady Harrell: Vocals
Steve Forman: Percussion.
It's especially wonderful to see Ivan Lins performing here. For those of you who may not recognize Lins' name, he is
one of the most fantastically gifted Brazilian singer songwriters working today, and his tunes have been recorded for
decades by a huge variety of American jazz and pop stars. Many listeners will remember "Dinorah Dinorah" and "Love
Dance" from George Benson's versions, but Lins is a singular talent whose music really deserves even more mainstream
success than he's been accorded here in the United States. His singing is a bit rough, not as mellifluous as, say, Milton
Nascimento's is, but his soulfulness is staggering and his compositions, which often traipse through an incredible variety
of altered dominant fifth structures, are a lesson in melody and harmonization. I personally can't highly recommend
Ivan's own albums enough for anyone with an interest in gorgeous playing and impeccable songcraft. If you can track
down his old album for Quincy Jones' Qwest label, Awa Iyo, that's as good a place as any to start, but you
simply can't go wrong with any of Lins' albums.
Another great treat here is the spritely appearance of Patrice Rushen, one of the most ebullient players around and
another great artist who, in my estimation anyway, deserves far greater renown than she's had. Although she's been
a regular on the jazz scene for decades, having played with everyone from Jean-Luc Ponty to, well, Lee Ritenour, and
has actually had a couple of charting singles in her long solo career, her name is rather strangely left out of the mix
when people discuss the best keyboard players in the contemporary jazz scene. (Check out her beautiful playing on
Ponty's early album On the Wings of Music, made when she was barely out of school.) She offers some
fantastic work here and it's just fun to see her bopping her head along with the band as it achieves a groove.
Speaking of head moves, you have to see bassist Mel Davis to believe him. This imposingly large man almost has
seizures as he plays, with his face growling and grimacing and his eyes popping wide as he accents various beats. He's
also a lot of fun to watch, if just slightly scary at times. (I'm joking—kind of.)
Overtime features some short interstitial interviews with the participants between the following tunes:
Lee Ritenour Overtime is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080i
transfer in 1.78:1. Perhaps because the main feature here was done in a more controlled (or perhaps more saliently
controllable) environment than the typical concert video, it looks really great for the most part. The multi-camera
placement captures a huge variety of angles, including overhead shots, and for the most part the stage lighting is well
handled, offering some very pleasing fine detail in the many close-ups. The image is generally exceedingly sharp and well
defined throughout the concert. About the only niggling complaint is with the typical concert bugaboo of blue lighting.
When the players are bathed in blue, some quasi-posterizing appears very briefly on clothes and hair, but it's never very
problematic. Otherwise, this is an artifact free presentation which offers great contrast and nicely rich black levels.
Lee Ritenour Overtime features two sterling lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and an
uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both of these tracks offer fantastic clarity, with incredibly precise and rich fidelity
which is augmented by an impeccable mixing job, especially with regard to the Overtime sessions. The musicians
are arranged in a circle and the 5.1 soundstage recreates that immersive effect impressively, with Lee's guitar usually
presented front and center, surrounded by the other fantastic musicians. The low end is really crisp in this track, with the
bass and drums effortlessly cutting through the massed instruments. Even with several keyboards playing simultaneously,
things remain clear and uncrowded. Vocals are also well reproduced and Lee's guitar is cleanly offered throughout this
great presentation.
Even if you're not a particular fan of what is rightly or wrongly termed "smooth jazz", my hunch is you'll find a lot to enjoy
about Overtime. This unusual live performance setting offers a host of musicians who have spent literally decades
working with each other, and their rapport is palpable. Ritenour moves through such a wide gamut of genres here that it's
a little unfair to try to lump it all under one title. When you have "old guard" players like Grusin tearing it up with newer
talents like Botti, the results are engaging and very exciting. This is kind of an unusual project for Eagle Rock, which
typically releases more arena style concerts like the Montreux Festival outings, along with the occasional music
documentary. Overtime nicely balances both of these elements, offering short interviews with the players and some
wonderful long form tunes. With excellent video and impeccable audio, this release comes Highly recommended.
