NEW RELEASES : In Brief

* * Lee Ritenour, “Wes Bound,” GRP. Guitarist Ritenour’s tribute to Wes Montgomery, with its orchestral arrangements and laid-back tempos, apes the late guitarist’s least satisfying period: the over-produced sessions he did for Creed Taylor’s CTI label. Still, Ritenour’s re-creation of Montgomery’s tone and attack is genuine enough to be pleasing, and he even makes Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain” (with a vocal by Maxi Priest) fit the program. For those unfamiliar with Montgomery, this recording will be a discovery. But his admirers will be left hungering for the real thing.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).