Lee Ritenour - Captain Fingers - At Blues Alley Live!

Lee Ritenour - Captain Fingers
This week's the first time he's played it live in 30 years. Backed up by three phenomenal musicians, including his son Wesley Ritenour on drums. What an incredible opportunity to see this legend with three young jazz All-stars play one of the greatest jazz-fusion tunes of our time. Fortunate to have been at Blues Alley in DC and able to get this amazing video of them! (posted with permission of Lee himself). Enjoy!

[@paullevine1813]

I live in MD but used to go to DC all the time when we had great clubs such as The Cellar Door , Desperados , The Wax Museum & The Bayou along with My Mothers Place & we had no problems with any violence then ,just great folks going to see some of the best music not just in DC but everywhere . I was at this show to see Lee do what he does best & that's play great guitar & he did just that & having seen the great Robben Ford i can truly say I've seen & heard two of the best modern players around plus in 73 at DCs Constitution Hall i had the pleasure to witness one show i will never forget which was John McLaughlin & Mahavishnu Orchestra & for a guitar player myself that was pure awesomeness. Sad DC is not as it used to be in the 60s & 70s but times do change . What a fine show this was with a true legend & a damn good band., Thanks for sharing this ,what a great gift they let you film this , hope you have more as i would love to see more for sure. !!!!

[@andynoakes5394]

Lee is still killing it. Such a difficult song to play but he’s such a pro that he makes it look easy. Also his son is amazing on drums. Thanks for this video

[@got2bharmony]

Super live performance, great band. If that is Lee's son Wesley on drums you gotta believe some of it is in his genes.

[@michaeljulius5895]

Love LR - I remember buying Captain Fingers when it first came out - tried to learn as much as I could - just an amazing musician

[@rokrok60]

First heard the studio version of this song back in 1978. Been a “Rit” fan ever since.

[@michaelbrady3393]

Nice to see this performance, and that Lee is rocking the Yamaha Revstar.

[@barbarafearn]

Been a fan since 1979 ..: he is awesome

[@pallhe]

I picked up a vinyl copy of Captain Fingers on a visit to Berkeley, CA, recently. Still has pride of place next to my turntable. Love the title song. Amazing playing. 👏

[@beatfish]

I've been listening to the whole album again recently and it still blows me away. Lee is definitely one of the greats. Thanks for posting and getting Lee's permission.

[@wendelllanders8439]

Fantastic performance indeed!Love Lee!His Son is an amazing drummer as well!!

[@WilliamDiederich]

I was just there last weekend, uploaded a 2023 Captain Fingers version.

[@paulmorin1286]

bravo lee,you are a living legend and you still have the touch,,,wow what a talent,...listen to you equal pure bliss,,,god bless captain,

[@wesleysouza3346]

I love this music. Amazing

[@cosmosonik]

Incredible Lee and if I play after thirty some years is surely because of is early morning attitude tunes as well !

[@guillermorodriguez8488]

one of the bests

[@ewaldnickl8866]

great great LEE !!

[@barbarafearn]

I would love to hear his ‘80s rockier albums played live .. saw him a few times in the ‘90s and a few years ago at Ronnie Scott’s in London.: Morning Glory is a great song.

[@ManfredElsingBielefeld]

opa spielt auf zum Tanz!Geil!!

[@alaneisenberg1438]

fantastic performance of a hard song.

[@reidwhitton6248]

My favorite Lee tune! The very tricky lines played at break neck tempos always make me think of Frank Zappa.

[@Oeg925]

🎉absolute legend❤❤

[@kuuntelia10]

Wonderfull !!!

[@WilliamDiederich]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@stephenhunter3625]

one of Randy's Rhoads friend'S they was away's in the ozzy tour bus talking and play music what a nice guy and epic player

[@jdorozco1275]

Amazing title song from the Captain Fingers album. I love his earlier stuff like this. Saw him at the Catalina Jazz club in L.A. with Dave Grusin last fall, and at the Smith Center in Vegas this spring. Wish he had played this number then. Keep rockin' Rit!

[@harjonoharoen5186]

yeahhh...really captain!!

[@mickywatnots3700]

You know when you have made it when you can turn up at a gig with Lee ritnour with dustbin lid ride and half eaten main crash lol rock on Tommy 🤘

[@marthanavarro1962]

Uno de los mejores guitarristas de jazz

[@guillermorodriguez8488]

sino el mejor llevo 45 años escuchandolo y no me canso de oirlo

[@guillermorodriguez8488]

precisamente el primer lp que escuche fue captain fingers, y yo y mis amigos quedamos alucinados

[@pierluigilombardi7238]

Bravissimi

[@105higginsroy]

As good as the original...keep on Captain Fingers..

[@mortenhansen1910]

Definitely not the first time he's played it live in 30 years. It's on his live album/video from 2005, Overtime.

[@WilliamDiederich]

Good catch! One of the guys with the band told me 30 years, was just passing on what I was told. That said, I really like the Lee Ritenour - Overtime 2004 HD live version; thanks for passing that on.

[@trevorlindsey580]

Sounds great! And after all his guitars burned up in the Malibu house!

[@lgojazz2801]

Who is playing keyboard and bass?

[@ezequielserranocalderon3850]

Otmaro Ruiz on piano .... ¡amazing!

[@BERKLEEJAGE]

@@ezequielserranocalderon3850 I was on that tour!

[@pierluigilombardi7238]

Buono

[@HarryGuit]

Always liked his music and attitude. I‘d like hear more but he always uses these jazzy pulpy sound settings.

[@johnmaer]

Who made up the audience in a venue like this in a dangerous precinct, the District of Columbia? Are there really music aficionados in this apartheid burg? Amazing.....hopefully his prodigy and performance can lower the hatred and hostility a couple of notches, assuming the DC Mayor doesn't shut down the establishment.

[@randyjones280]

I've been going there for years and I've never had a problem. Saw Scofield there. And many others. D.C. has a very cool music scene. Just ask Nils Lofgren.

[@Dfusion631]

🌍 lol 🤠 what a shame some 1 🎸 iz blockin da view📽 oF the bass man 🎸

[@jayem1826]

It's he playing a Baker?

[@MrBostella]

Yamaha Revstar II

[@preciousmemoriescollection1156]

It is wow..but it'll better than he plays for god not for human. Because human is mortal but god is alfa and omega.

[@garyoldham4449]

If there is a God then Lee and every single human whoever existed will relate to that God In Their Own way. No human being has the right to write religious books and claim that God wrote them and then impose all of that on other people that they have to submit to what those men said God said. Much better for each person to simply live and learn. If there is a God of guidance then they will be guided. Not indoctrinated by religions that were written by men which always contain a percentage of truth but they also contain a percentage of untruths. Because men are fallible. Men see through a glass darkly. Men do not know all things. Men do not understand the mind of god. They just act like they do. Then you begin to see that it is arrogance. Christians will spend their whole lives studying those books so that they can Know Good and Evil. So that they can rise in arrogance above others, look down upon them in judgment. That is the wrong tree. ...and claim that they are saved because they adopted the writings of men as their doctrine, and someone else is not saved because they don't use the same words to describe the Great mystery. You think you know all things but instead you are also on a journey to live and learn the same as everyone else. Even the atheist lives and learns according to the initial intent. The initial intent was the other tree. The tree of life. Which is to live and learn. Apply those lessons only to yourself, never to impose them upon others, and certainly to never have the arrogance to sit in judgment as though you are a God because that is exactly what studying to know good and evil amounts to. It means you are partaking of the wrong tree when you don't recognize that the atheist is just as saved as you are. Even more so because they live more closely to the initial intent. If you don't think living and learning without religious indoctrination and consider the fact that God did not provide any books from the very beginning. But God never changes? Then if a book was not necessary from the beginning than it is not necessary now or else God changed. If God is a god of wrath then he is still a god of wrath because Jesus dying for our sins would not change him. But then if God is a god of love then he always was a god of love and the belief that he was a god of wrath was untruth. The Bible contains some percentage of Truth and some percentage of untruth. For instance God said I never change. The same yesterday today and forever. Thou shalt not kill. Cross the River Jordan and kill men women and children. No. Just no! If you have lived and learned at all you know that it's not correct that children are guilty of the sins of their fathers. Don't you think it's more likely that men wrote that because you know that God didn't write the bible? When you first read that something inside you should have told you. If the spirit of God leads you into all truth you should have heard the voice of guidance telling you that that could not possibly be correct. Because children are not guilty of the sins of their fathers. That should have been your first clue that the Bible contains some percentage of untruth. Because it was written by men and men never get it completely right. You must know that. I'm not trying to shake your faith. Faith is a belief. Essentially it is a trust. A total trust. Do you think you need indoctrination to trust the Great mystery? Can't you put your total faith in it without knowing? But you don't know. You believe. No one knows all things. We just act like we do. No this is obviously a mistake to think that believing is the same thing as knowing when we were told that we don't know. That we see through a glass darkly. That as the heavens are high above the Earth so my thoughts are high above your thoughts. No. We do not know the mind of god. It is enough to trust. But what are you trusting? You are trusting the writings of men. The atheist is trusting whatever actually is without even knowing what actually is. That is a greater faith. Living life with no road map because you don't trust the roadmap because you know the road map was written by men. The atheist will be seated at a higher position at God's table. And the arrogant Christians who judged him will be placed at a lower position. Because of their arrogance. Because they thought that believing equates to knowing. Because they had thought they had the right to rise as gods thinking that they knew good and evil enough to judge others. Such arrogance. They will be reprimanded for their arrogance. Also because it is such a turnoff that they have turned many people away from the bible. So that those people did not benefits from the truths that are contained therein. And they should by all means extol the virtues of the Bible. But they also should be warning everyone to be aware that it does contain some percentage of untruth. And also to warn people against becoming arrogant. If you still think I am wrong about the Bible containing some percentage of untruth then consider the words of Paul that in this life we see through a glass darkly. And we do not know all things. At least he could admit it. All religions are written by men. All religions are an attempt to put into words that which cannot be put into words. Just as Jesus told his disciples no, you do not understand my parable. And he said of them, you have eyes but you cannot see. You have ears but you cannot hear. Am I supposed to believe that they had difficulty understanding while they were with jesus. But after he was gone suddenly they knew all things and did not see through a glass darkly anymore? Then they wrote much of the New testament and I expect that it would be flawless because they are suddenly flawless and no longer human? If you still think that the Bible is the word of god, 100% truth, consider the fact that Jesus said, it is written. Don't work on the sabbath. But I say to you if your ox falls in a hole do not leave it there to suffer. He also told us that Deuteronomy was wrong by telling us that we should Stone a woman caught an adultery. When he said let he who has the no sin cast the first stone. Since God did not write a book written by himself that could be completely trusted it is not unreasonable to think that some people would not trust it. It would be arrogant to judge them for that. They are simply a different personality type that finds it more difficult to submit to the writings of men. These also would be placed at a higher position at God's table and he would say of them, these are they who did not submit to the writings of men but instead lived according to the initial intent to live and learn, to apply those lessons only to themselves, never to impose them upon others. These are they that listened for the inner voice of guidance. Skeptical of the writings of men. Skeptical of the word of man. Instead I was with them and guided them every step of their life. Because I am the voice of wisdom. And wisdom is acquired only when you are free to live and learn. And wisdom is reduced when you forfeit the voice of guidance and replace it with the writings of men which is doctrine, arrogance, and judgment. All of which is the wrong tree and is not in alignment with the initial intent. So then the Christian calls if the word of God even though no man has the right to put words in God's mouth. The Christian calls it 100% truth. Even though Jesus himself told you parts of it are incorrect. And the atheist says there is no truth in it. Both are wrong. Every single time that a Christian tries to impose doctrine upon another they risk turning that person away from the messages of morality and love specifically because it is hypocritical to think you know all things, no good and evil, enough to sit in judgment of another. Because that is not love. And it does turn people away from the message of love. The false part of the bible. The message that God is a god of wrath also turns people away from the message of love. Because God of wrath is not God of love. And because they know damn well that a God who created human beings to be imperfect should not hate us for those imperfections. Combine two thoughts. God is always the same, Never changes. Jesus said all of the prophets and all of the law can be summed up by saying love one another. In spite of our imperfections. Obviously. But God hates us for our imperfections? God doesn't even live according to the words of Jesus. God the Father did not get the message about loving in spite of imperfections? Everything boils down to love. I heard a small still voice saying, do not submit to the writings of men. The writings of men is not greater than the actual real thing. The writings of man is not greater than the small still voice. I will trust the small still voice which was with me from the beginning. Long before I ever heard of religion.

[@snorhyveln]

I like Harvey Mason's dynamic style better than Wes (even he is good).. but a little to pushy

[@GeorgeBK]

Hate family band!

[@harry2928]

Good music; (Horrific sound). can't play it on the speakers, it's much worse. sorry but fact. 👎🏻

[@WilliamDiederich]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the video Harry, I shot it with my phone.

[@edennard1]

I hear it find through my “Beats Audio ear Buds 🙂

[@harry2928]

@@WilliamDiederich Dear Mr. Diederich, very kind of you to reply. My critical comment was Only meant as informative, even though blunt. Simply meant to say [the telephone is not meant or capable of recording (Reproducing) music for Any trace of "Fidelity"]. -- so.... no matter How you might try to use it, it's gonna sound very poor to any discerning ear /folks who revere music in detail. I also realize my opinion is only myself 'whining'. Please accept my Apology if able, and God bless.