First Course
Studio album by
Released1976
RecordedOctober 3 – 15, 1975
StudioThe Sound Labs, Hollywood, California
GenreCrossover jazz, smooth jazz
Length41:15
LabelEpic (1976), Columbia (1990)
ProducerSkip Drinkwater
Lee Ritenour chronology
First Course
(1976)
Gentle Thoughts
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

First Course is the debut album by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. The album was released on LP by Epic Records in 1976 and on CD by Columbia Records in 1990.

Reception

First Course was made when Ritenour was considered the best session musician in Los Angeles next to guitarist Larry Carlton.[2] He recorded the album with peers from Dante's and the Baked Potato club in Studio City, California. AllMusic called the album an "artifact of the early L.A. jazz/funk sound".[3]

Ritenour worried about the album. "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."[2]

Financial problems plagued the album because the "sound perplexed studio executives," who were looking for the next Bitches Brew or Return to Forever.[4] This was melodic rhythm and blues-based jazz that fell just outside the boundaries of "Fusion" and didn't find a home until newly formatted radio stations began to popularize two emerging genres in the mid to late 80's - The genre broadly known as Smooth Jazz, and also "New Age" music, between which there was considerable overlap.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lee Ritenour except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
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 Grusin4:08
4."Fatback" 4:18
5."Memories Past" 1:51
6."Caterpillar"Dave Grusin4:21
7."Canticle for the Universe"Jerry Peters6:12
8."Wild Rice" 5:32
9."Ohla Maria (Amparo)"Antônio Carlos Jobim3:50

Personnel

Production

  • Jerry Schoenbaum – executive producer
  • Skip Drinkwater – producer
  • Lee Ritenour – associate producer
  • Al Schmitt – engineer
  • Linda Tyler – assistant engineer
  • Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)
  • Sam Emerson – cover photography
  • Fred Valentine – sleeve photography
  • Ron Coro – art direction
  • Mick Haggerty – design
  • Tommy Steele – design

1990 Reissue/Remastered credits

  • Nedra Neal – digital producer
  • Vic Anesini – remastering at CBS Studios (New York City, New York)
  • Chuck Berg – liner notes

References

  1. Ginell, Richard S. "First Course". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 Willie G. Moseley. "...Rit on the Right". Archived from the original on 2006-12-31. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  3. Ginell, Richard. "First Course – Lee Ritenour". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  4. "Review of The Best of Lee Ritenour". October 23, 2003. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
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