'Captain Fingers' works the frets with his band: 1.9Mb QuickTime movie 1.1Mb QuickTime audio file of complete performance

Web posted on: Friday, July 10, 1998 12:36:21 PM

(CNN) -- First appearing on the jazz scene in the early 1970s as a session player, musician Lee Ritenour has made his mark in music, starting with the release of his first solo album, "First Course," in 1976.

Its follow-up, 1977's "Captain Fingers," increased his renown, giving him the opportunity to work with artists as diverse as Doc Severinsen and Steely Dan. Now, the man known to his fans as "Captain Fingers" is releasing "This Is Love," his first solo album on his own label.

Ritenour has been known for years as a master of technique, which accounts for his nickname. As he explained to Showbiz Today's Jim Moret, "In those early days of rock and jazz and everything, I was known for a lot of technique, and a lot of the fans started calling me, 'Hey, Captain Fingers' ... I wrote a song called it, and then it became an album, and now we're a production company. It just stuck for over 20 years."

Though technique is his hallmark, he notes that his technique developed through of his desire to play with more emotion.

"As we hopefully get wiser and more mature, it always has to come through the music," he said. "I never had technique just for the sake of technique ... I was always (a) fan of such great musicians and guitar players that played so soulfully, like Wes Montgomery and B.B. King."