Lee Ritenour quotes

I'm constantly thinking melodies. Now, to add interest to those melodies, obviously you have to know what things can be superimposed over a chord, and I will think of extended arpeggios and the upper estensions. If I'm playing very vertically, I will invariably start to include certaing passing notes which imply certain scales -- like a melodic minor scale against a C minor chord, or diminished scales, something like that. But I'm not thinking of a scale at that specific moment. I'm thinking of the notes as surrounding that chord -- because I know how each of the twelve notes in music sound against a C minor seventh, for instance. (Lee Ritenour)
Ive done a lot of albums and I kinda know when Im onto something that was inspirational for me to record and create, and this was one of those projects where I really enjoyed making the album.
Lee Ritenour
Arranging is the way I put my stamp on my music as much as my guitar playing.
Lee Ritenour
If you play the very subtle jazz tunes with acoustic pianos, acoustic bass and it's a dead standard, you are going to play very differently. It depends on the music.
Lee Ritenour
Well, Smoke n' Mirrors has very much a world music flavor and it doesn't park itself in one country. It borrows heavily from the Brazilian angle, which is dear to my heart, and I recorded several albums with that flavor.
Lee Ritenour
In 2010, I had been playing guitar for 50 years.
Lee Ritenour
I used a baritone guitar with a very unusual tuning that became the body of the composition, while the classical guitar is on top of it with the main rhythm part.
Lee Ritenour
Even though there are some great keyboard players on the album, there are a number of songs with no keyboard on them and the backing is all guitar oriented. This is first time I've ever done this actually.
Lee Ritenour
I always recommend to any player to always compose their own music. It's one of the best things you can do to find a road to your own style.
Lee Ritenour
My son Wesley has just turned 13. He was 12 during the recording of this record and he is quite a drummer already and has been studying drums since he was four, but he's also very interested in African percussion and studies percussion.
Lee Ritenour
Zamajobe is great. She's a terrific singer from South Africa. (Lee Ritenour)