Lee Ritenour - 1982 - Rit/2

Type: Studio Album
Genre: Smooth Jazz / Crossover Jazz
Original Release: 1982 Discovery Records
Audio CD Release: 1982 Discovery Records [71017]
Total Playtime: 00:39:59

01. [03:44] Cross My Heart
02. [04:03] Promises, Promises
03. [04:10] Dreamwalkin'
04. [04:51] Keep It Alive
05. [03:12] A Fantasy
06. [04:54] Tied Up
07. [04:20] Voices
08. [04:11] On the Boardwalk
09. [03:43] Roadrunner
10. [02:47] Malibu

Source [FLAC.tracks.cue] : simple.i = http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3178073

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Featuring:
- Lee Ritenour - Synthesizer, Guitar (Acoustic), Bass, Guitar, Arranger, Drums, Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Guitar (Synthesizer), Producer, Guitar (Classical), Executive Producer, Rhythm Arrangements, Keyboard Synthesizer, Audio Production, Choir Arrangement, Oberheim Obxa
- Harvey Mason, Sr. - Percussion, Arranger, Drums, Producer, Rhythm Arrangements, Audio Production, Choir Arrangement
- Greg Philinganes - Keyboards
- Michael Boddicker - Synthesizer
- Don Grusin - Synthesizer, Keyboards
- Eric Tagg - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Vocals
- Bill Champlin - Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
- Richard Page, Steve George, John Farrar - Vocals
- Nathan East - Bass, Synthesizer Bass
- Neil Stubenhaus, Abraham Laboriel, Sr. - Bass
- Johnny Mandel - String Arrangements, Mixing
- Charles Loper, Lew McCreary, Bill Reichenbach Jr. - Trombone
- Gary Herbig, Larry E. Williams - Flute
- Tom Scott - Sax (Tenor)
- Jerry Hey - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Horn Arrangements, Mixing
- Larry Hall - Trumpet, Flugelhorn
- Gary Grant - Trumpet
- Alex Acuna, Carlos Vega, John "4 Daddman" Robinson, Jeff Porcaro - Drums
- Paulinho Da Costa - Percussion

Credits:
- Joe Gastwirt - Mastering
- Humberto Gatica, Don Murray - Engineer, Mixing
- Rick Clifford - Engineer, Second Engineer
- Kelly Waite Mcnulty, Benny Carter - Composer
- David Foster - Arranger
- Gerald Vinci - Concert Master
- Denise Minobeá Ron Coro - Artwork, Art Direction
- Ron Slenzak - Photography, Inspiration
-James Suelflow - Layout Design
- Greg Mathieson - Fender Rhodes

Recorded at Monterey Studios, Sunset Sound, Yamaha Studios
Produced by Lee Ritenour & Harvey Mason

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- Billboard Charts:
1982 - The Billboard 200 #99
1983 - Jazz Albums #5
1983 - R&B Albums #53

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- Review by reviewer - blazplavi-guitarmusic.blogspot.com
Lee Ritenour didn't seem to shy away from the fact that this 1982 follow on from Rit was based on the same template as its predecessor. Indeed, you only have to look at the title of the album and the interesting cover artwork to get the message. There aren't so many personnel on board this time round though and the album is performed by "The Lee Ritenour Band" with Ritenour himself on electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, bass & guitar synthesizers and OBX drums, Eric Tagg again on lead vocals and keyboards, Harvey Mason on drums, percussion & rhythm arrangements, Don Grusin on keyboards and Nathan East on bass. (What we have here in fact, is three quarters of what was later to become known as Fourplay). Trumpeter and flugelhorn man Jerry Hey also returns to take care of string and horn arrangements on most of the songs. The songs also take the same format and running order, more or less. Thus, the album opens with two pop vocal tunes just like its predecessor did and "Dreamwalkin'" & "Keep It Alive" sound very similar, in terms of tempo and vibe, to "No Sympathy" & "Is It You?", for instance, and on and on it goes. I have no complaints though. For one, I enjoyed "Rit" so much the idea of a "Rit" part II was a very welcome one at the time. Besides, the new tracks while (maybe) written on a similar template are original and fresh enough to survive on their own merits. That said, I do have more love for the instrumental tracks here than I do for the vocal ones. (On "Rit" it was a pretty equal love for both). My favourites are "A Fantasy" (with the way it fades in, all thumping bass & drums, wailing guitars & synthesizers), "On The Boardwalk", "Road Runner" and "Malibu" (with strings arranged by Johnny Mandel), a tune I used to feel haunted by for years after I first heard it for some reason - but haunted in a good way. I also like "Tied Up" quite a lot. This is another 5 star golden oldie that doesn't waste any time. At 40mins and 9secs, it's slightly longer than "Rit" but it's still a quickie by today's standards. The music is so good though, I tend not to notice. But I do have one quibble: "On The Boardwalk" does not fade in like it does on my LP version, or indeed on the version I had on cassette before that. I always loved the way The Life Choir's vocals, singing "La-la, la-la," over and over, seemed to just creep up on me, as if from nowhere. On the CD, they just start. It's a minor irritant but an irritant nonetheless and it's for this reason that I've decided I'm going to hang on to my vinyl copy. It might be worth a lot of money one day anyway.