Lee Ritenour - Overtime

Starring:Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Ivan Lins
Studio: Eagle Vision USA
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
One of the world's most renowned Jazz guitarists, Lee Ritenour began his career backing up the likes of The Mamas and The Papas, Tony Bennett, and more. His website declares that he has over 3,000 studio sessions to his credit, with such groups as Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, and Dizzy Gillespie. Since 1976, he has been recording as a solo artist, with over 30 albums to his credit.

Lee Ritenour's new DVD entitled "OverTime," is 2 1/2 hours long with 19 songs covering his music from the 70's to the current. Musically, it covers 4 distinct areas starting out with acoustic jazz and moving into Brazilian music with Ivan Lins. The second half continues with Lee's early music from the fusion days at The Baked Potato including the original band of Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Anthony Jackson, Harvey Mason, Ernie Watts and Steve Foreman. The DVD concludes with many of his most popular songs from the 80's to 2004 including songs from "WestBound" and "Twist of Motown." Two of the guest artists featured in this section are Chris Botti and Eric Marienthal. There are also 2 new songs on the DVD, one of which is a new single with vocalist Kenya Hathaway.

Description

One of the world's most renowned Jazz guitarists, Lee Ritenour began his career backing up the likes of The Mamas and The Papas, Tony Bennett, and more. His website declares that he has over 3,000 studio sessions to his credit, with such groups as Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, and Dizzy Gillespie. Since 1976, he has been recording as a solo artist, with over 30 albums to his credit.

Customer Reviews:

Lots of Musicians and lots of Music -- all first rate.......2007-07-09

I have been something of a casual listener to Lee Ritenour since the mid Ninety's. I have consistently enjoyed much of what I have heard. Overtime on DVD is the first concert of his that I have actually watched and it has raised my appreciation of him to a new level, both as a player and a writer.

The show is aptly named as it runs for right around two-and-a-half hours and features a round-robin of musicians on every instrument. The setting is unique. It is a large room, not a concert hall. The show is an intimate one, not only among the musicians, but between the band and the audience. This is captured very well on the DVD. On the right night, one feels like one is in the room and is a part of the audience. The variety of musicians, and songs for that matter, are a large part of what makes this such a worth while concert. My personal favorite to watch, and listen to is Anthony Jackson on Bass. He is one of those people that you have to both see and hear to fully appreciate. Patrice Rushen on the Rhodes/Keyboards is also very nice. And of course it would not be Lee Ritenour without Dave Grushin somewhere in the mix.

As far as songs go, "A Little Bumpin" and "Captain Fingers" are my personal favorites. With 19 songs that span the better part of Ritenour's career on two discs there should be something for all of Lee's fans to enjoy. Interspersed between the songs are interview segments with Lee and many of the other guest musicians. There have been some comments from others that this interrupts the flow of the concert, but I don't think so.

As far as the DVD itself is concerned, the show looks and sounds great. It is exactly what a DVD concert should be. It is spread out over two discs which is a little inconvenient, but not really a problem. The back of the DVD box states that the show was shot in Hi Definition, so it would be nice to see this released on one or both of the HD disc formats. If it were I would spend the money for it.

The DVD revolution has done some good things for a variety of genres, both in film and music. It has created something of a renaissance for classic movies and had also taken great concerts from the last several decades and brought them back to life. Recently is seems to have done some the same thing for Jazz, or in this case something closer to Smooth Jazz. There is a lot of good stuff getting released that is sparking a genuine interest for this type of music. This DVD is an excellent example of that. If you are a fan of Ritenour, or merely a fan of good music, or simply curious about Jazz, then you should get this concert. Strongly recommended for both newcomers and aficionados alike -- enjoy it.

A Concert for the Band Less the Fans.......2007-05-10

Good Music - Lame show

This is a concert for Ritenour's ardent fans only. The music is good, but there really isn't much worth seeing. A CD would provide compareable results.

The performance is essentially a concert for the band, not the fan. Great muciscians with a good grove, but little else. It looks as if they crowded into a sound stage, threw in a few cameras and filmed the result. The result: a fine audio performance for a live jam, but fairly disapointing otherwise. Stage presence is non existent.Lee Ritenour - Overtime

~m

Ultimate Entertainment.......2007-05-08

After watching one or two performances on Cameron Smith's BETJ show, I emailed him to get the name of the DVD and sent for it immediately! I have never gotten so much for my money and I just sent it to a friend of mine as a gift. What talent! It really makes a difference when you can see the musicians as they enjoy playing/singing their music. Everyone was so into what they were doing that the results make you want to shout encouragements to them even though you're in your own living room.

Overlooked fusion artists.......2007-01-17

True, M. Grusin is not the most extraverted pianist out there, and the in-between spoken parts of the show can be irritating after a while, but M. Ritenour have this ability to bring these talented but somehow austere musicians together to play in a fully enjoyable manner.

My guess is that people tend to despise him because he used extensively electronic keyboards for some of his solo albums but Miles did it too, near the end of his musical career.

I bet you will press the repeat key more than once after having heard the amazing cover of "Papa was a Rolling Stone" !

If only the instruments did all the talking..........2007-01-12

The musicianship here is first-class; as you would expect from Lee Ritenour, all the players and singers are awesome. It's a thrill to see musicians this good. The general vibe of this concert is casual; it was filmed in a large recording studio with a small audience. It's like a small club, and Lee has invited all his best musician friends from past and present to come and jam. Lee's playing is great, although he doesn't tear it up like crazy (unlike the Larry Carlton in Paris DVD); this is more mellow and jazzy-very tasteful. There is a great variety of styles here, as this concert represents songs from his whole recording career-all very enjoyable.
My only gripe? Between songs there are lengthy interviews with Lee and the other musicians telling us what they're doing. I don't need to be taught the meaning of improvisation-over and over. It's pretty irritating to stop after every song and listen to them. Why didn't they make it a special feature you could choose to listen to (or not)? Maybe I missed something, but I couldn't turn it off and just enjoy the concert in sequence. It's a great DVD otherwise.

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