As comfortable as guitarist Lee Ritenour has always been in the smooth jazz format, he has strived to go beyond it with his embrace of world music and serious jazz stylists including Wes Montgomery. Smoke 'N' Mirrors is a characteristic production in gathering up a sizable cast of contemporary cronies including Patrice Rushen, Dave Grusin, Richard Bona and Abraham Laboriel, but Ritenour's involvement in South African and Brazilian music and his emphasis on acoustic guitar give it a fresh identity. The wistful "Blue Days (Dias Azuis)," written and arranged by Daniel Jobim, son of Antonio Carlos, and featuring the singer Joyce, is one of the album's highlights. The young South African vocalist Zamajobe, featured on three songs, is a real discovery. You may wish Ritenour had stayed on ethnic turf and saved the more familiar, keyboard-sweetened fare for another album. Or you may enjoy the variety of Smoke 'N' Mirrors, which ranges percussively from Sheila E.'s congas to Satnam Ramgotra's Indian tablas. --Lloyd Sachs
