With His Label, Ritenour Calls Own Tune

Guitarist Lee Ritenour has done what most jazz musicians would love to do, but rarely have the opportunity--he’s formed his own record label, i.e. music. And the first release, “A Twist of Jobim,’ featuring songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim performed by Ritenour, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Dave Grusin and others, is already a significant hit. Currently, it is No. 2 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz album listing.

“Last year,’ Ritenour says, “there were 27,000 albums released in the United States. An artist might make the greatest album in the world, but if it doesn’t get out the proper way, it may never really be heard. One of the reasons I decided to make this move at this time is because the more control I have of my own product and my own destiny, the more comfortable I feel.”

Ritenour’s i.e. music was formed late last year and is a joint venture with Verve Records, distributed through PolyGram. His partners are Mark Wexler, a veteran of GRP’s contemporary jazz program, and Michael and Lori Fagien, the founders of JAZZIZ magazine, a periodical that specializes in adult-oriented contemporary music.

Although Ritenour plans to have the label “firmly planted in adult-oriented music,’ he has no intention of becoming locked in one particular musical groove.

“My own desires,” he says, “are pretty jazz-oriented. But there are a lot of world music elements I like--African, reggae, Brazilian, some interesting things from Europe and from the American mainstream. And I can explore them all, as a performer and as a producer, on my own label in a way that I could never do if I was just functioning as a producer or a performer for hire. According to Ritenour, i.e. music will also be extremely active in the emerging cyber-world of music. Starting today, the company’s Web site (https://www.iemusic.com) will employ “I.V.E. technology,” which allows consumers to place “A Twist of Jobim’ in their CD-ROM drives and use the discs to interact with visuals and text information on the Web site.

*

Festivals: The lineups have been announced for two of the year’s major jazz events. The 18th annual Montreal International Jazz Festival runs from June 26 through July 6, with more than 2,000 musicians from 20 countries performing in the heart of downtown Montreal. Among scheduled artists: Herbie Hancock’s All-Stars (with Michael Brecker, John Scofield and Jack DeJohnette), Joe Lovano, Eddie Daniels, Diana Krall and the Manhattan Transfer. Information: (888) 515-0515.

The Monterey Jazz Festival moves into its 5th decade, Sept. 19-21 at the Monterey Fairgrounds. Two new works--Gerald Wilson’s 40th Anniversary commission and “Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story”--will be premiered. The typically far-ranging lineup of performers includes Sonny Rollins, Arturo Sandoval, Ivan Lins, Marcus Roberts, Don Byron and others. Information: (800) 307-3378. World Wide Web site: https://jazzcentralstation.com/montereyjazzfestival

*

On Record: RCA Records is launching its new “80 Years of Jazz’ series with the release of eight CDs. The initial album celebrates the 80th anniversary of the 1917 release of “Livery Stable Blues” by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, generally considered the first commercial jazz recording. Vol. 1, the first release, covers the period from 1917 to 1929, and also includes performances by Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and others. Subsequent volumes, which will be released at the rate of one per month through November, will survey the history of RCA’s jazz catalog, from Ellington to Charles Mingus to Dizzy Gillespie and into the present with Marcus Roberts.

*

Free Music: The Los Angeles Jazz Quartet performs at the L.A. County Museum of Art’s free jazz concert today, 5:30 p.m., (213) 857-6000. . . . The American Jazz Philharmonic, directed by Jack Elliott, with guest stars Billy Childs, piano, and Bud Shank, alto saxophone, performs a free concert April 30 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of Cal State Long Beach, 7:15 p.m. Reservations are required. Information: (562) 985-7000. . . . The Playboy Jazz Festival kicks off its free jazz community events on May 4 with a program featuring the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band and the five-trombone band, Bone Soir, at the Beverly Hills Civic Center, 3 p.m., (310) 449-4070.