Lee Ritenour has always been one of my favourite guitartists. This beats anything Lukather ever did with Toto.
Here is Lee playing "Captain Fingers"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHNwgCvsnII

Lee Ritenour - "A Little Bumpin'"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpSMTaEG0d8

OMG!!!

Henry Rollins on his Rollins Show just ripped Bush and the Bush administration a GAPPING HUGE NEW ASSHOLE!!!

OMG!!! OMG!!! Then he has William (Bill) Shatner (Capt. Kirk). But, see the opening monologue!!!

RIP, SHRED, GOUGE!!!

I didn't record it. DAMN!

Lee? Is it You?

Steve Morse & Rik Emmett - "Up In The Air"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3XdLlLBvm4

I loved the Jeff Beck version of this song. This live version was superb. The LNMC is one of the best aspects of this site and I hope you never change it. I've found musicians here I suspect I never would have seen otherwise. It provides a welcome respite from the unrelieved absurdity that politics has become. Yea C&L.

Nearly fell asleep watching those guys waterboarding their guitars ;)

This one is so much better...

Steve Vai Crossroads Guitar festival 2004

PinkyLeftBrain @ 5:

OMG!!!

Henry Rollins on his Rollins Show just ripped Bush and the Bush administration a GAPPING HUGE NEW ASSHOLE!!!

OMG!!! OMG!!! Then he has William (Bill) Shatner (Capt. Kirk). But, see the opening monologue!!!

RIP, SHRED, GOUGE!!!

I didn't record it. DAMN!

What's the name of the show? What channel is it on?

Gekke @ 13:

Nearly fell asleep watching those guys waterboarding their guitars ;)

You have to appreciate what they were doing. They aren't playing Vai they are playing a Stevie Wonder song.

wesisbest @ 18:

Is that Harvey Mason on drums?

Yes I believe that may be Harvey.

Yes Stevie wrote it, but here's the full back story:

"This song, dedicated to guitarist Roy Buchanan, was composed by longtime friend Stevie Wonder as an apology to Jeff for releasing "Superstition" first. This is what Beck is referring to in the liner notes on the back of the album when he says, "thanks to Stevie."

"Superstition was originally intended for Jeff Beck as a thank you for the guitarist’s help on the Talking Book album, but when Motown heard it they released Wonder’s version as a single."

I don't believe Stevie ever recorded/released "Lovers" though.

Al Di Meola - "One Night Last June"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfLOvBq0HCY

L.A. Confidential @ 17:

Gekke @ 13:

Nearly fell asleep watching those guys waterboarding their guitars ;)

You have to appreciate what they were doing. They aren't playing Vai they are playing a Stevie Wonder song.

For sure I appreciate their talent, but one wonders if a Stevie Wonder song is the best place to explore the virtues of the electric axe ;)

these three sure got it rocking, enjoy :)

Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteem G3 Concert

Ivan Lins and Lee Ritenour - Harlequin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUC7wlcPP1A

Dire Straits - "Going Home - Theme From Local Hero"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3zIfO-YOzg

'night!

That was a nice video, groovin song ... so familiar, kept imagining credits rolling at the end of some martial arts tournament type action film :D

I was at a seminar taught by Joe Pass ... MUCH longer ago than I care to specify. I asked him to name some younger players he liked. "Nobody," he replied with a wry grin, to the chuckles of the scores of players in the audience. "How about Lee Ritenour?" I pressed. Mr. Pass nodded eagerly: "Yes, Lee is wonderful -- he can play anything."

Rit and Luke go WAAAAY back in the LA Studio scene, back when Luke was still a teen. He was sorta Rit's "Padawan" back then. Nice to see these two fretboard Jedis collaborating like this. Ditto for the piece from the Luke/Carlton "No Substitution" collaboration; Luke refers to Larry as his "Sensei."

Oh -- and "Just Like Lightning" is just WICKED tight. You could bounce a quarter off that groove!

Andy Kim

Baby, I Love You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ_X8SZp1eM

I always thought Jeff Beck created this song...I didn't know it's a Stevie Wonder song..now I know.But this version is awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aqNWFx1VoQ Santana...Deeper,Dig Deeper.....something a little jazzier

While all these guitarists listed here are indeed extremely talented most of them have this sound, or are played in a context, that is, how do i put this? kinda bland. Like Lee, and believe me, this is no knock at all against Lee or anyone in this thread, the guy is very very good. His band is very very good. But this soft jazz sound is just....kinda like saccharin to my ears (subjective judgment i know and only my opinion).

Again, this is not every song, nor even every song by Lee (just using him as an example since this thread was initially about him). I'm well aware that the 80s "feel" influenced the way music was produced and played by almost every single band during that time and that many have gotten out of that phase.

It's like Kenny G. The man may be a virtuoso on sax and extremely talented, but the music is lacking any rough edges, or raw feeling. Its got no balls.

Since we seem to be listing guitarists and such who we think are the cat's ass, i'm going to put down Trey Anastasio. If there is going to be any listing of the best electric guitarists alive today (i'm leaving acoustic guys out of this), in my opinion Trey Anastasio belongs as one of the best (not THE best mind as that is a totally subjective and worthless argument).

This jam i'm going to link is from the first bonnaroo festival in 2002 where the Trey Anastasio Band was closing. Because its a long cut (9 minutes +) they left out the initial singing part and started in on the jam. If you want to skip to the really jaw dropping part skip to the last 2-3 minutes. But! if you have 9 minutes to kill and are looking for a really phat, heavy jam listen all the way through.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PE5q2tVXgo

Well as long as we are talking about Mr. Beck..
Why not put up a cut of his recent live work. A few months ago there was a 30 year old piece from the 70's, but hey this guy is still at it and still making the sickest noises anyone gets from a guitar.
He's a brilliant technical artist and does stuff that keeps the next generation of guitarists occuupied trying to figure out just what he did...but the thing that keeps Beck relevant and cutting is the fact that he never lets his sonic sense of humor sink too far beneath the surface of what he is doing...here's to the link between Les Paul and the Future!

Slabo @ 46:

GonzoD @ 23:

Al Di Meola - "One Night Last June"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfLOvBq0HCY

Gonzo, I have most of his records and I saw him in concert in Europe and he made a crack on stage how Santana is an "amatuer" and can't read music and ever since then I saw him as arrogant and snotty. In the 80s my guitar teacher (who was a big Joe Pass fan) made a similar comment saying that Carlos was a "dilletant". I find that Carlos draws more "FEELING" out of one note than many of these virtuostic "speedsters". It's not all about speed and how many notes one can play under 20 seconds, as Carlos says, "it's about getting INSIDE the note and making that baby weep or sing" I agree with Carlos. ( and so does jazz great Wayne Shorter)

PS. I do love though DeMeola's MEDITERANIAN SUNDANCE with Paco & John. Now there's some virtuostic speed, eh?

To me, music is about feeling. Carlos plays with feeling.
PS as far as Di Meola being snotty, a lot of guitarists do this. I remember years ago, Eddie Van Halen criticizing Jimmy Page & Jimi Hendrix, talking about how amateurish they were. It's best not to listen to the crap when they start talking!

Slabo @ 44:

mudshark @ 41:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aqNWFx1VoQ Santana...Deeper,Dig Deeper.....something a little jazzier

Mud, one of my favs.

A real treat is the 8 minute cut on Carlos' "BLUES for SALVADOR" LP. Talk about a mean wah wah pedal attack! The original version of DEEPER is on the "FREEDOM" LP with Buddy Miles on vocals. But the all instrumental version on Carlos' solo LP "Blues for Salvado" is far superior and simply a guitar clinic on how to employ the wah wah pedal to make your hair stand. Check it out!

Thanks for all the links guys. hat a great feature on this site!

agreed..I have Blues for Salvador........one of my faves...

Anon @ 50:

The comments here are why I got out of the music business and will no longer allow my music to played in public. What a bunch of idiots.

Buh Bye...don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcndMdD4zDI ......just for fun

Jeff Beck's version of this is one of my all time favorite guitar ballads, along with Good Bye Pork Pie Hat. Beck has always made the most of every single note he plays. While I respect both Lee and Steve's technical virtuosity very much this could be any number of guitarists playing if I didn't know better. No one sounds like Beck though. Clapton said of Beck after backing him on this song at the Secret Policemen's Ball concert. "Probably the finest playing he'd ever heard" I saw Beck a couple years ago when he toured with B.B. King...
What Clapton said! He's at the top of his game, at 60 something. Amazing

Thanks, John, for reminding me how much I fucking hate Toto.

That was just fabulous. Anyone know what kind of bass guitar that was? I've never seen anything like it before.

Monte Montgomery does it for me, Trey Anastasio doesn't. Everybody has different taste. My favorite guitar player is Robert Fripp, has been for years; he speaks to me like Brahms does.

thanks guys. i'm glad you liked the Trey.

One other guy i'm surprised no one has mentioned is Derek Trucks. The man, like Trey, is simply a friggin Jedi. Normal or slide the man is sooo good without being overbearing or an in your face speedster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuadh1o0yC8&mode=related&search=

Buckethead shreds!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=86DEKFissl4