Luxury Experience - Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory

Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory is more than a tribute to the guitar, it is a testament to how versatile and fluid the instrument is in the hands of twenty of the most talented guitarists in the world including Lee Ritenour, Taj Mahal, John Scofield, George Benson, Keb' Mo', Joey Bonamasso, Mike Stern, B.B. King, Slash, Neal Schon, and Pat Martino to name but a few of the many talents on this super-star album released on the Concord Music Group label.

Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory: Lay It Down; Am I Wrong; LP (For Les Paul); Give Me One Reason; "68"; In Your Dreams; My One and Only Love; Moon River; Why I Sing The Blues; Daddy Longlicks; Shape of My Heart; Drifting; Freeway Jam; Fives; Caprices, Op 20, NO. 2 and 7

Personnel: Lee Ritenour: Guitar; John Scofield: Guitar (Track 1); Harvey Mason: Drums (Tracks 1, 2, 9); Melvin Lee Davis: Bass (Tracks 1, 13); Larry Goldings: Organ (Tracks 1, 5, 6, 14), Rhodes/Clavinet (Track 2, 0), Burlitzer (Track 4); Keb' Mo': Guitar, Vocals (Tracks 1, 9); Taj Mahal: Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals (Track 2), Nathan East: Bass (Tracks 2, 9); Pat Martino: Guitar (Track 3); Joey DeFrancesco: Organ (Tracks 3, 8); Will Kennedy: Drums (Tracks 3, 8, 11); Joe Bonamasso: Guitar, Vocals (Track 4); Robert Cray: Guitar, Vocals (Track 4); Vinnie Colaiuta: Drums (Tracks 4, 5, 6, 14); Tal Wickenfeld: Bass (Tracks 5, 6, 14); Steve Lukather: Guitar (Tracks 5, 6, 11); Neal Schon: Guitar (Tracks 5, 6); Slash: Guitar (Track 5); George Benson: Guitar (Tracks 7, 8); B. B. King: Guitar, Vocals (Track 9); Vince Gil: Guitar, Vocals (Track 9); Jonny Lang: Guitar, Vocals (Track 9); Joe Robinson: Guitar (Track 10); Andy McKee: Steel String Acoustic Guitar (Track 11), Guitar (Track 12); Paulinho Do Costa: Percussion (Tracks 11, 12); Jimmy Johnson: Bass (Tracks 11, 12); John Beasley: Keyboards (Tracks 11, 12), Rhodes (Track 13); Mike Stern: Guitar (Track 13); Tomoyasu Hotei: Guitar (Track 13); Simon Phillips: Drums (Track 13); Guthrie Govan: Guitar (Track 14); Shon Boublil: Guitar (Track 15)

Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory was produced by Lee Ritenour and John Burk and released on the Concord Music Group label. With a career that includes over 3,000 recording sessions, 19 GRAMMY® nominations, 1 GRAMMY Award, and countless albums, assembling a Who's Who of guitar maestros for the release Lee Ritneour's 6 String Theory may have been his biggest and also his easiest challenge. Combining rock, blues, country, jazz, acoustic, and classical in a single release was not about the genres, but about the instrument that conveys the sound, the 6 string guitar. Assembling the exclusive list of guitarists was the easy part as there is a tremendous amount of respect amongst fellow "slashers" and Lee only needed to make the phone call and they started to show up with guitars in hand. The story goes that Lee came up with the title, 6 String Theory, then drew up his list of guitarists, and the recordings came last, and what a recording it is.

The release leads off with the track Lay It Down, which features jazz guitarist John Scofield trading licks with Lee on a track that includes a funky bass line held together by bass guitarist Melvin Lee Davis and drummer Harvey Mason. The track Am I Wrong, a delta blues song, features guitarists Keb' Mo' and Taj Mahal along with Taj's fiery harmonica and Keb' and Taj's hot vocals. The track LP (For Les Paul) changes the flow with an up-tempo song that features Pat Martino on guitar, doing a duet with Les, and Joey DeFrancesco on organ.

The track Give Me One Reason is smoldering guitar licks by guitarists Joe Bonamasso and Robert Cray that accompany their raw vocals. The track "68" lets the rockers take center stage with guitarists Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, and Slash flailing away with tight changes, blazing licks, and smooth transitions on the Steve Lukather song. In Your Dreams, written by Lee, shows the lighter side of rock guitarists Neal Schon and Steve Lukather who accompany Lee on this jazz piece. The release flows into a couple of tracks that feature the stellar George Benson on guitar, My One and Only Love and Moon River.

What guitar tribute release would be complete with out Lucille and blues guitarist extraordinaire B. B. King who Lee features on the B. B. King song, Why I Sing The Blues, along with Vince Gill, Keb' Mo', Jonny Lang, and Lee strumming away on their guitars. Giving way to the next generation of guitarists, Lee features Joe Robinson on the track Daddy Longlicks who shows us the unique fingerstyle of playing.

Shape of My Heart features Andy McKee and Lee in a poignant duet of acoustic guitars that is covered by Steve Lukather on electric guitar, a beautiful ballad of strings. Drifting, written by Andy McKee, features Andy Mckee and Lee picking away and trading licks like two kids telling a story, and the story [song] becomes larger than life as the telling [picking] goes on.

The release Freeway Jam, where the word "jam" is an understatement in the hands of guitar magicians Mike Stern, Tomoyasu Hotei, and Lee, is a rousing jam where each guitar is out to top the chops of the other, and the lightening sound is blistering, bring sunglasses when you listen to this track. The last two tracks introduce the listener to two up-and-coming artists in Guthrie Govan on the track Fives that he wrote and shows the speed of a Formula 1 car with the grace of a jungle cat, and classical guitarist Shon Boublil on the track Caprices, OP 20, No. 2 and 7.

One of most powerful releases to be made in the past twenty years, Lee Ritenour's 6 String Theory will go down as a tour-de-force for musicians around the world.