Lee Ritenour


Lee Mack Ritenour is an American jazz, jazz fusion guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s.

Biography

Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California. 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. In the mid-to-late 1970s, Ritenour purchased a 1958 Fender Stratocaster that became one of his primary recording guitars. Between the early 1980s and 1987, it was modified with a 3-ply pickguard, Alembic Strat-o-blaster preamp, an added string tree, a Floyd Rose tremolo with locking nut, and EMG S pickups.

1976–1988

Ritenour's solo career began with the album First Course, a good example of the jazz fusion sound of the late 1970s, followed by Captain Fingers, The Captain's Journey.
In 1979, he "was brought in to beef up" one of Pink Floyd's The Walls 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. 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 and Banded Together, 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 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 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.

1990–present

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.
In 2018, Ritenour lost his Malibu home and personal recording studio in the Woolsey Fire in California.

Lead vocalists

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

Grammy Awards

Ritenour has received one Grammy award out of sixteen nominations.
YearCategoryNominated workResult
1978Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition"The Captain's Journey"Nomitated
1981Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental PerformanceRITNomitated
1985Grammy Award for Best Arrangement on an Instrumental"Early A.M. Attitude"
1985Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance HarlequinNomitated
1985Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal"Harlequin"Nomitated
1986Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or InstrumentalEarth RunNomitated
1986Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition"Earth Run"Nomitated
1990Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion PerformanceStolen MomentsNomitated
1993Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance Between the SheetsNomitated
1993Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo"4 on 6"Nomitated
1993Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual or GroupWes BoundNomitated
1994Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement with Accompanying Vocals"Ability to Swing"Nomitated
1995Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz PerformanceElixirNomitated
1995Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz PerformanceLarry and LeeNomitated
1997Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz PerformanceAlive in L.A.Nomitated
1997Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover AlbumTwo WorldsNomitated

Albums

Charted singles

As a member

Fourplay
  • Fourplay
  • Between the Sheets
  • Elixir
  • Best of Fourplay
L.A. Workshop
  • Norwegian Wood
  • Norwegian Wood, Vol. 2
GRP All-Star Big Band
  • ''GRP All-Star Big Band''

    Other credits

  • 1977 "Strawberry Letter 23" from the album Right On Time by Brothers Johnson
  • 1987 Joyride - track 6 "Midi Citi" -
  • 1985 American Flyers with Greg Mathieson - GRP

    As sideman

With Alessi Brothers
  • Driftin
  • Words & Music
With Patti Austin
  • Love Is Gonna Getcha
  • That Secret Place
With Carole Bayer Sager
  • Carole Bayer Sager
  • ...Too
  • Sometimes Late at Night
With George Benson
  • Give Me the Night
  • Songs and Stories
With The Brothers Johnson
With Natalie Cole
  • Thankful
  • Stardust
With Judy Collins
  • Hard Times for Lovers
  • Home Again
With Brass Fever
  • Brass Fever
  • Time Is Running Out
With Aretha Franklin
  • You
  • Sweet Passion
With Art Garfunkel
  • Breakaway
  • Fate for Breakfast
With Margie Joseph
  • Hear the Words, Feel the Feeling
  • Feeling My Way
With Bill LaBounty
  • Promised Love
  • This Night Won't Last Forever
With Melissa Manchester
  • Don't Cry Out Loud
  • Mathematics
With Letta Mbulu
With Alphonse Mouzon
  • Mind Transplant
  • The Man Incognito
With Leo Sayer
  • Endless Flight
  • Thunder in My Heart
With Neil Sedaka
  • All You Need Is the Music
  • In the Pocket
With Carly Simon
  • Playing Possum
  • Torch
With Barbra Streisand
  • Lazy Afternoon
  • Songbird
  • Guilty – rec. 1979–1980
With others'