from THE CAPTAIN’S JOURNEY
Written by Lee Ritenour
The Captain’s Journey, released in 1978, was Lee Ritenour’s sixth release coming right after the seminal Captain Fingers one year before. The legendary guitarist again assembled an amazing cast of musicians, singers and arrangers to deliver a fresh jazz/fusion masterpiece. David Foster was again on board for the project and arranged and played keyboards on a couple of tracks. One was a vocal rendition of Ritenour’s classic instrumental, “Morning Glory” featuring another Bill Champlin vocal after his fantastic job on the cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” on Captain Fingers. Foster arranged the song and played acoustic piano on it. A previous review of this song can be rediscovered in the archives.
This week, the spotlight is on another instrumental on Captain’s Journey titled “Matchmakers.”
Another Ritenour original, “Matchmakers” was a groovy number with a funky flavor thanks to a smoking rhythm section that included Steve Gadd on drums, Abe Laboriel on bass and Jay Graydon on rhythm guitar. Foster played the electric piano while the acoustic piano was handled by the great Dave Grusin who also wrote the catchy string arrangement and co-produced the album. With such a stellar cast backing him up Ritenour absolutely shone on “Matchmakers.” His fluid lead guitar performances and top-notch solos are totally sublime. He was also joined by another giant, Ernie Watts, who played the elegant tenor saxophone solo on the song. The Captain’s Journey was one of Rit’s higher chartings on Billboard’s Top 200, reaching #121. The album’s title-track was also the first of Rit’s 16 Grammy nominations.
Ritenour is still working these days on a new collaboration cd with Grusin titled Brazil. It’s planned release is at the end of May. Needless to say, this new pairing of two phenomenal talents will be a must have for the most refined music lovers.
- Electric Guitar: Lee Ritenour
- Acoustic Piano: Dave Grusin
- Electric Piano: David Foster
- Rhythm Guitar: Jay Graydon
- Drums: Steve Gadd
- Bass: Abe laboriel
- Tenor Saxophone: Ernie Watts
- Percussion: Steve Thornton & Sue Evans
- Rhythm Arrangement by Lee Ritenour & Dave Grusin
- Strings Arrangement by Dave Grusin
- Produced by Lee Ritenour & Dave Grusin
Lyrics
No Lyrics