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Master jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour performs live. Recorded at the Concord Pavilion, California, on June 29, 1984, "Rit" and his six-member band jam on a baker's dozen worth of tunes guaranteed to delight the ear and give his fans the next best thing to being there in person. 75 minutes.

Recorded live on a California summer night, this 1984 concert stars the Lee Ritenour Band in a taut, burnished performance of jazz-rock passions. Ritenour, typically self-effacing and less than loquacious on stage, nevertheless cheerfully leads his talented ensemble through an array of alternately introverted and extroverted moods. The opener, "Heavenly Bodies," sets an appropriate tone of nocturnal reflection, finding a seated Ritenour with electric guitar, telegraphing quick bursts of longing over the band's waves of chiming, folky blues. From there, vocalists Phil Perry and John Massaro share the spotlight and bring a personable touch to Ritenour's journeyman players, cracking wise on the businessman satire, "Mr. Briefcase," probing a psychic netherworld in "Voices," and handling the simmering, sexy grace of "Is It You?" with classy ease. Ritenour invokes watery mysteries in the ethereal "Dolphine Dreams" and makes good on the promising title "Rio Funk" via a chunky groove sprinkled with Latin flavors. "Rit Variations II" is the real workout Ritenour and friends have been hinting at all night, and the show ends on a popping rendition of "I'm Not Responsible." From an era of adult-contemporary sounds often derided as hot tub music, Ritenour's restrained skills here prove that polish does not preclude power.