Lee Ritenour

b. Lee Mack Ritenour, 11 January 1952, Los Angeles, CA, USA. The prolific Ritenour has established himself as one of the world's leading jazz guitarists with a series of accessible albums over three decades. Starting at the age of 16, Ritenour played his first session with The Mama's and the Papa's. Two years later he was backing Tony Bennett and Lena Horne at L.A.'s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Know as "Captain Fingers," Ritenour became a sought-after session player in the mid-70's. Starting in 1976, at the age of 24, he began his own solo career which now includes over 30 albums and collaborations. Although heavily influenced in his early days by the relaxed styles of Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel, he now has his own distinctive sound and fluid style. His list of session work is awesome (some 3,000 sessions), but some of his notable performances were with Herbie Hancock, Steely Dan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins and Pink Floyd. Since the mid-80's Ritenour has been strongly influenced by Brazilian music.

Along the way, Ritenour has received 17 Grammy nominations, earned several gold albums, numerous #1 spots in guitar polls and the prestigious "Alumnus of the Year" award from USC. In 1981, he scored the pop15 hit "Is It You," featuring vocalist Eric Tagg, which has also become a smooth jazz radio classic. He joined GRP Records in 1985 after recording for Electra the previous 7 years. At that time, he recorded the magnificent "Harlequin" album with GRP co-owner Dave Grusin. It was nominated for 4 Grammy"s and won 1 that year.

In the early 90's, Ritenour teamed up with Bob James, Harvey Mason and bass player Nathan East under the name of Fourplay, who has released a number of soul/jazz/funk fusion albums for Warner Brothers Records. Lee was a founding member of the original band and participated in the first three releases which remain their biggest hits to date. The first Fourplay album in 1991 spent an unprecedented 33 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart.

In 1993, Ritenour topped the Billboard jazz chart with his accomplished tribute to Wes Montgomery, on his album "Wes Bound", and followed it in 1995 with an excellent joint album with Larry Carlton. In 1997, Ritenour was a founding partner of i.e. Music at Polygram Records. The first release on i.e. music was a "Twist of Jobim" paying tribute to the great Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. The single "Water to Drink" from this album was a #1 Radio n Records NAC airplay single in 1997. In 2000, he and Dave Grusin returned to their classical roots with "Two Worlds," which remained on Bilboard's classical charts for 51 weeks. In 2001 he released the 2nd of the "twist of" trilogy, with a tribute to Bob Marley, placing reggae classics in a contemporary setting. The first single "Get Up, Stand Up," was the #1 Radio n Records NAC airplay single of 2001. In 2002, Ritenour released "Rit's House," a jazzier, funk album with many new original compositions of Ritenour's. The final of the "Twist of" trilogy was the 2003 release "A Twist of Motown."

Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin at Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Hong Kong

by Rob Garratt
November 15, 2024

Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin featuring Ivan Lins Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium Hong Kong November 12, 2024 Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin's musical relationship might date back some five decades--the pair may be, in the former's words, “best buddies"--but it was still startling to see how relaxed the pair are onstage together in 2024. How much joy there still is in the fleeting, on/off partnership between the smooth fusion guitarist and the four-time ...

Album Review

Lee Ritenour & Dave Grusin: Brasil

by Edward Blanco
August 18, 2024

Friends and musical partners since the '70s, guitarist Lee Ritenour and pianist Dave Grusin continue their collaboration on Brasil, thanks to Ritenour's Brazilian wife Carmen, who was influential in recommending the project, and to the many outstanding Brazilian players who grace the album. Though the repertoire contains two Ritenour originals and one from Grusin, the producers draw on such Brazilian composers as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Celso Fonseca and Ivan Lins for the majority of the songs, which were ...

Live Review

Lee Ritenour e Dave Grusin - Concerto e Masterclass a Roma

by Mario Calvitti
April 7, 2017

Lee Ritenour e Dave Grusin Forum Music Village Live Session e Masterclass Roma 26-27.03.2017 Lee Ritenour e Dave Grusin, forti di una collaborazione che dura da oltre 40 anni, sono due dei musicisti più direttamente legati alla musica fusion, genere che ha imperversato per almeno due decenni a partire dalla seconda metà degli anni '70. Ritenour ha cominciato giovanissimo come chitarrista facendo il turnista per session di studio, diventando in ...

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Lee Ritenour: Behind a "Twist of Rit"

by Belinda Ware
December 4, 2015

Lee Ritenour is a musical talent who approaches jazz as an artist does a canvas. He takes time to explore colorful arrangements within each song he records mixing various degrees of fusion, rock, blues, and funk based on the feel of the song. Ritenour has become a master of his own style in creating music that reflects the story of each song he performs through the instrument of the guitar. He has an innate passion to create message music that ...

Live Review

Lee Ritenour at Scullers

by Dave Dorkin
October 30, 2015

Lee Ritenour Scullers Boston, MA October 4, 2015 Guitarist Lee Ritenour has made a career as such a versatile session man (with session work ranging from Joe Henderson to Pink Floyd) and has done so many smooth jazz and pop dates that hardcore jazz fans can be forgiven for not having seen him burn live in the company of a real band on standards and his own originals. Ritenour assembled a vibrant ...

Live Review

Brazilians Spice Up Annual Montana Guitar Festival

by Mark Holston
September 21, 2015

Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival Flathead Lake Lodge Bigfork, Montana August 30-September 5, 2015 Forget for a moment the stellar roster of international guitar greats at Bigfork, Montana's annual Crown of the Continent Guitar Festival, their inspired performances and enthusiastic, SRO crowds. This annual weeklong mixture of master classes and nightly public performances on the grounds of a half century-old traditional “dude ranch" boasts something that likely no other festival in the ...

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Album Review

Lee Ritenour: 6 String Theory

Read "6 String Theory" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
August 31, 2010

The very gift that makes a session musician great can also be a curse. Oftentimes expected to be chameleon-like, it's that very act of becoming a credible musical shape-shifter that can sometimes lead to a loss of individuality. Lee Ritenour is a consummate and complete guitarist if ever there was one; his varied discography supporting a seemingly insatiable appetite for anything to do with the six-stringed instrument and all its variations. Often (and, in many cases, unfairly) linked too heavily ...

Recording

Lee Ritenhaur and Dave Grusin: Brasil

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
May 23, 2024

Just as sunshine pop offered a counterweight to psychedelic hard rock in the late 1960s, soft jazz evolved in the 1970s as a lighter FM alternative to the mystical psychedelic jazz fusion movement. Two artists who helped pioneer soft jazz were guitarist Lee Ritenour and keyboardist Dave Grusin. Mind you, these categories weren't exclusive. There was plenty of crossover by musicians between the two genres. Now Ritenour and Grusin have teamed up on the newly released Brasil (Candid). Recorded in ...
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Festival

Samara Joy And Lee Ritenour Are First Two Headliners Announced For Rochester International Jazz Festival In June 2024

Source: Dalmath Associates Inc.
December 8, 2023

CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival producers Marc Iacona and John Nugent today announced the first two headliners for the 21st Edition June 21 to June 29, 2024. The Festival is one of the world's leading jazz festivals, presenting 1750 artists from around the world at 20 venues over nine days. Tickets for both shows go on sale this Friday, December 8th at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time only at rochesterjazz.com or call (585) 454-2060. 2023 GRAMMY-winning Artist of the Year, ...
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