Dreamcatcher
The Players Club, 2020
10/10
It’s been half a decade since we’ve heard any new studio work from the Grammy Winner Lee Ritenour, and the guitar virtuoso certainly make the wait worth it on these 12 instrumental tracks what weave in and out of jazz, country, and rhythm & blues with incredible proficiency and much power, too.
The title track starts the listen with gentle guitar picking in a dreamy, soothing climate, and “Charleston” follows with dynamic chord progressions in the meticulous, mesmerizing delivery the embraces jazz and blues with much appeal.
Near the middle, “Starlight” flows with plenty of beauty amid its warm melodies, while “Abbot Kinney” moves with louder, classic rock influenced display of strong guitar prowess. “For DG”, one of the album’s best, then recruits a soulful quality that immediately strikes a chord in its agile nature.
As the end approaches, “Low & Slow” finds a hypnotic groove to reside in, and “2020” exits the listen with so much skill and absorbing technique, that it’s certainly not difficult to see why Ritenour has received so much praise in his esteemed career.
The last few years have come with a lot of turmoil for Ritenour, whose home suffered a fire that destroyed most of his life’s work. Right after that tragedy, he went in for heart surgery. With those obstacles just barely in the rear view mirror, he set out to do one thing he had yet to accomplish in this 5 decade career- a solo guitar album. And it sure is a masterpiece.
Travels well with: Frank Kohl- Solitude; Igor Kogan- In A Big City