First Course
| First Course | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Lee Ritenour | ||||
| Released | 1976 | |||
| Recorded | October 3, 1975 – October 15, 1975 | |||
| Studio | The Sound Labs, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Crossover jazz, jazz pop | |||
| Length | 41:15 | |||
| Label |
Epic (1976) Columbia (1990) |
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| Producer | Skip Drinkwater | |||
| Lee Ritenour chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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First Course is the first studio album by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour. The album was released on LP by Epic Records in 1976. It was released on CD by Columbia Records in 1990.
The album was made at the time that Ritenour was a session musician, considered perhaps the best in Los Angeles at the time next to Larry Carlton. He drafted friends and peers from Dante's and the Baked Potato club in Studio City to record this "artifact of the early L.A. jazz/funk sound".
Ritenour was worried about creating the album, as he has stated, "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."
Financial problems plagued the album because the "sound perplexed studio executives" were looking for the next Bitches Brew or Return to Forever. This was melodic rhythm and blues-based jazz that didn't find a home until new wave radio stations became mainstream over a decade later.
All tracks composed by Lee Ritenour except where indicated
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