Lee Ritenour

Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years later decided on a career in music. When he was 16 he played on his first recording session with the Mamas & the Papas. He developed a love for jazz and was influenced by guitarist Wes Montgomery. At the age of 17 he worked with Lena Horne and Tony Bennett. He studied classical guitar at the University of Southern California.

 

Ritenour's solo career began with the album First Course (1976), a good example of the jazz-funk sound of the 1970s, followed by Captain Fingers, The Captain's Journey (1978), and Feel the Night (1979).

In 1979, he "was brought in to beef up" one of Pink Floyd's The Wall's heaviest rock numbers, "Run Like Hell". He played "uncredited rhythm guitar" on "One of My Turns". As the 1980s began, Ritenour began to add stronger elements of pop to his music, beginning with Rit (1981). Rit became his only release to chart in Australia, peaking at number 98. "Is It You" with vocals by Eric Tagg reached No. 15 on the Billboard pop chart and No. 27 on the Soul chart. The track peaked at number fifteen on Hot Adult Contemporary chart. He continued with the pop-oriented music for Rit/2 (1982) and Banded Together (1984), while releasing a Direct-Disk instrumental album in 1983 called On the Line. He also provided rhythm guitar on Tom Browne's album Funkin' for Jamaica. He recorded Harlequin (1985) with Dave Grusin and vocals by Ivan Lins. His next album, Earth Run, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance. The album's title track was also Grammy nominated in the category of Best Instrumental Composition. Portrait (GRP, 1987) included guest performances by the Yellowjackets, Djavan, and Kenny G.

In 1988, his Brazilian influence came to the forefront on Festival, an album featuring his work on nylon-string guitar. He changed direction with his straight-ahead jazz album Stolen Moments which he recorded with saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Harvey Mason. During the same year, he composed the theme song for the Canadian TV series Ramona.

In 1991 Ritenour and keyboardist Bob James formed the group Fourplay. He left the group in 1997 and was replaced by Larry Carlton. He released the career retrospective Overtime in 2005. Smoke n' Mirrors came out the next year with the debut of his thirteen-year-old son, Wesley, on drums.

Celebrating his fifty years as a guitarist in 2010, Ritenour released 6 String Theory, a title that refers to six musical areas covered by the use of guitar.

Ritenour has been a judge for the Independent Music Awards.

Lee Ritenour's first few solo albums consisted entirely of instrumentals. Beginning with Captain Fingers (1977), Ritenour used vocalists on many of his songs:

• Djavan
• Bill Champlin
• Eric Tagg
• Patti Austin
• Ivan Lins
• Phil Perry
• João Bosco
• Kate Markowitz
• Maxi Priest
• Lisa Fischer
• Michael McDonald

Grammy Awards

Ritenour has received one Grammy award out of sixteen nominations.

• Album of the Year, Jazziz magazine (2010)
• Best International Instrumentalist, Echo Jazz Award (2011)

Albums

Charted singles

As a member

Fourplay

• Fourplay (Warner Bros., 1991)
• Between the Sheets (Warner Bros., 1993)
• Elixir (Warner Bros., 1995)
• Best of Fourplay (Warner Bros., 1997)

L.A. Workshop

• Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Denon, 1988)
• Norwegian Wood, Vol. 2 (Denon, 1994)

GRP All-Star Big Band

• GRP All-Star Big Band (GRP, 1992)

Other credits

• 1977 "Strawberry Letter 23" from the album Right On Time by Brothers Johnson
• 1987 Joyride - track 6 "Midi Citi" - (En Pointe)
• 1985 American Flyer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with Greg Mathieson - GRP

As sideman