Lee Ritenour's current biography
Growing up in L.A. in the 60's, Grammy award winning guitarist Lee Ritenour received a rich cross section of exposure to jazz, rock and Brazilian music. From one of his first sessions at 16 with the Mamas and Papas to accompanying Lena Horne and Tony Bennett at 18, his forty year eclectic and storied career is highlighted by a Grammy Award win for his 1986 collaboration with Dave Grusin, Harlequin; 17 Grammy nominations; numerous #1 spots in guitar polls and the prestigious "Alumnus of the Year" award from USC. He has recorded over 40 albums, with 35 chart songs, notably the Top 15 hit "Is It You," which has become a contemporary jazz radio classic. In the 90s, Ritenour was a founding member of Fourplay, the most successful band in contemporary jazz, with keyboardist Bob James, bassist Nathan East and drummer Harvey Mason. The first Fourplay album in 1991 spent an unprecedented 33 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. Adding to this legacy is his latest CD Smoke ‘n' Mirrors; the recently completed Grammy nominated recording Amparo, (a follow-up with Dave Grusin to their highly-successful 2001 Grammy Award nominated contemporary classical crossover CD) and producer of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's latest CD Act Your Age (which is nominated for 3 Grammys.
It's been a long road since the seventies, when Ritenour's legendary Tuesday night appearances at the famed Baked Potato, with a band including Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Harvey Mason and Ernie Watts became part of the musical landscape for five years. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Joe Sample, and even Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell could be seen in the audiences that would pack the house till the wee hours of the morning. From rock to blues to jazz, his diverse music became the foundation of over 3,000 sessions as a young guitarist with a broad spectrum of artists such as Pink Floyd (The Wall), Steely Dan (Aja), Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand. Not to forget the dazzling array of talent appearing on his solo works and collaborations, notably-- Phil Collins, Brazilian greats Ivan Lins, Caetano Veloso, Djavan and Jao Bosco, George Benson, Chaka Kahn, Herbie Hancock, Michael McDonald and opera great Renee Fleming.
Source: http://www.leeritenour.com/biography
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Lee Mack "Captain Fingers" Ritenour (born January 11, 1952) is an internationally acclaimed guitarist, recording artist, composer and producer. He began his career at 16 as a session player. He has appeared on over 3000 sessions & recorded 40 solo and collaboration albums. He had a world wide hit with "Is It You" in 1981.
Ritenour holds the distinction of having two of the promotional videos for his songs ("Is It You," and "Mr. Briefcase") being played during MTV's first day. His music is influenced by Wes Montgomery. He has paid frequent tributes to his hero, including naming his son Wesley when he was born in 1993.
Biography Ritenour was born January 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. He played his first session when he was 16 with the Mamas and the Papas. Nicknamed "Captain Fingers", he was a sought-after session guitarist by the mid-1970s and won Guitar Player Magazines Best Studio Guitarist twice in the 70's. He is noted for playing his red Gibson ES-335 and his Gibson L5 guitars. One of his most notable influences is the pioneering jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1976, he released his first solo album, First Course. This was followed up by his fusion work Captain Fingers in 1976. Since First Course he has released over 30 albums — the 30th being Rit's House in 2002. One of his most notable works is his pop album (featuring vocalist Eric Tagg) 1981 Rit, which contained chart hits "Is It You," and "Mr. Briefcase." In the '90s, he was one of the founding members of group Fourplay. He was nominated for 17 Grammy Awards, won one, plus landing at the top of many guitar polls throughout the world.
Throughout his career, Ritenour has experimented with different styles of music. He has often incorporated elements of funk, pop, rock, blues and Brazilian music with jazz.In the early 1980s, Ritenour was given his own Ibanez signature model guitar, the LR-10. The LR-10 was produced from 1981 to 1987. It can be heard exclusively on his album Rit. Currently, Ritenour plays the Gibsons that he first played in the 1970s (the ES-335 and L5), and now also plays his signature Lee Ritenour Model archtop guitar made by Gibson.
Ritenour holds the distinction of having two of the promotional videos for his songs ("Is It You," and "Mr. Briefcase") being played during MTV's first day. His music is influenced by Wes Montgomery. He has paid frequent tributes to his hero, including naming his son Wesley when he was born in 1993.
Biography
Ritenour was born January 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. He played his first session when he was 16 with the Mamas and the Papas. Nicknamed "Captain Fingers", he was a sought-after session guitarist by the mid-1970s and won Guitar Player Magazines Best Studio Guitarist twice in the 70's. He is noted for playing his red Gibson ES-335 and his Gibson L5 guitars. One of his most notable influences is the pioneering jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1976, he released his first solo album, First Course. This was followed up by his fusion work Captain Fingers in 1976. Since First Course he has released over 30 albums — the 30th being Rit's House in 2002. One of his most notable works is his pop album (featuring vocalist Eric Tagg) 1981 Rit, which contained chart hits "Is It You," and "Mr. Briefcase." In the '90s, he was one of the founding members of group Fourplay. He was nominated for 17 Grammy Awards, won one, plus landing at the top of many guitar polls throughout the world.
Throughout his career, Ritenour has experimented with different styles of music. He has often incorporated elements of funk, pop, rock, blues and Brazilian music with jazz.In the early 1980s, Ritenour was given his own Ibanez signature model guitar, the LR-10. The LR-10 was produced from 1981 to 1987. It can be heard exclusively on his album Rit. Currently, Ritenour plays the Gibsons that he first played in the 1970s (the ES-335 and L5), and now also plays his signature Lee Ritenour Model archtop guitar made by Gibson.
Ritenour has always experimented with different genres, and has always had a very strong commercial sense. His solo career began in 1975 with the recording of his album First Course. Released in 1976, the album gave a strong representation of the mid-1970s L.A. Jazz/Funk sound. Critics did, however, complain that his first album was "lightweight." So Lee countered this with his strongly fusion-based follow up, Captain Fingers. This was followed by two more fusion efforts—The Captain's Journey (1978) and Feel The Night (1979). On these albums, Ritenour primarily used something of a rich, yet rock-oriented distorted guitar sound, coming from his Gibson ES-335 guitar. In other instances on these albums, clean sounds were heard coming from his Gibson L5 and classical acoustic guitars (he played his classical acoustic guitars almost exclusively on his album Rio in 1979). In the 1970s, Ritenour would often use effects like wah-wah, phasers, chorus, and flangers on his electric instruments. Also, during the late 1970s, Ritenour can be heard using the 360 Systems guitar synthesizer (he is pictured sitting in front of it on the back cover of his Captain Fingers album). He can be heard using the synthesizer on the track Captain Fingers (from the album with the same title), and can also be heard playing solo with the synthesizer on the song "What Do You Want?" from "The Captain's Journey."
In 1979, Ritenour played on Pink Floyd's The Wall, contributing rhythm guitar to "One of My Turns" and acoustic guitar to "Comfortably Numb".
As the 1980s began, Ritenour began to add stronger elements of pop to his music, beginning with Rit in 1981. For this, he kept with his distorted sound, now using his Ibanez LR-10 signature model guitar. He continued with the pop-oriented music for two albums after Rit (Rit/2 in 1982 and Banded Together in 1984), while releasing a slick, yet more fusion-styled, Direct-Disk instrumental album in 1983 called On The Line. He also provided rhythm guitar on Tom Browne's hit, Funkin' for Jamaica.
In 1985, he recorded his first album for GRP with Dave Grusin, entitled Harlequin. It featured Lee primarily on his classical acoustic guitar and also featured Brazilian singer/songwriter Ivan Lins. Up to this point, this album along with Rio arguably gave the strongest representation of Lee's Brazilian influences.
The following year, 1986, Ritenour released the album Earth Run, which featured him using the then-newly designed SynthAxe guitar. He used nine different guitars on the album, most notably the SynthAxe, his Valley Arts guitar, and his Gibson Chet Atkins acoustic. The album also featured long-time collaborator Phil Perry for the first time, on the track "If I'm Dreaming, Don't Wake Me" — a song also featuring David Foster and Maurice White. He also produced songs and played guitar on Deniece Williams's LP Hot on the Trail during that same year.
Ritenour continued in a direction strongly featuring other artists in 1987, with Portrait. The album itself has something of a strong smooth-jazz sound, and Ritenour can be heard here playing with The Yellowjackets, Djavan, and much to the shock of some, Kenny G.In 1988, his smooth jazz-influenced Brazilian music came to the forefront with Festival — another album strongly featuring his work on nylon-string acoustic guitars. The following album, Color Rit, continued with a similar mood. He did however, change direction completely again with his straight-ahead jazz album Stolen Moments. Sounding similar to Wes Montgomery, Ritenour played alongside long-time collaborator, saxophonist Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent, bassist John Patitucci (playing only acoustic) and drummer Harvey Mason. Continuing in a Wes Montgomery mood, Ritenour paid tribute to the man himself in 1992, with his album Wes Bound. The album featured a number of covers of Montgomery compositions, as well as some seemingly tributary pieces from Ritenour himself.
Also seen in this decade was a 1994 collaboration album with guitarist Larry Carlton called Larry & Lee.
Lee Ritenour formed Fourplay together with keyboard player, Bob James. Whilst playing primarily with smooth jazz group Fourplay for much of the 1990s, Lee left the group in 1998 and continued with his solo works. He was replaced in the group by Larry Carlton.
2002 saw the release of his album, Rit's House.
In February 2004, Ritenour completed a project looking back on his career involving musicians he has worked with throughout his career called Overtime. Overtime was recorded live in a studio in front of a small audience. It was released in early 2005, and is currently available as a singular audio CD, double-DVD set or singular HD DVD. Some of the musicians featured include Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Harvey Mason, Alex Acuna, Chris Botti, Anthony Jackson, Melvin Lee Davis, and Ernie Watts, amongst many others.
His latest album, entitled Smoke n' Mirrors was released in late August 2006. His son Wesley is a drummer, and makes his debut appearance on the album at the age of 13. This album contains Ritenour's version of Bill Withers' 1978 hit "Lovely Day".
Discography
AlbumsTitle Release RemarksFirst Course 1976 Epic
Lee Ritnour and His Gentle Thoughts 1977 JVC
Captain Fingers 1977 Epic
Sugar Loaf Express (with Eric Gale) 1977 JVC
Friendship (Different from 1979 release) 1978 JVC
The Captain's Journey 1978 Elektra Records
Rio 1979 GRP
Feel the Night 1979 Elektra/Discovery
Friendship (Currently reissued with The Captain’s Journey on Wounded Bird Records) 1979 JVC
The Best of Lee Ritenour 1980 Epic
Rit 1981 Elektra/Discovery
Rit, Vol. 2 1982 Musicraft
On the Line (This version differs in some takes to the 1985 GRP Release, and is available reissued with Rio on Wounded Bird Records) 1983 Elektra/Musician
Banded Together 1984 Elektra/Discovery
Harlequin (w/Dave Grusin) 1985 GRP
Earth Run 1986 GRP
Portrait 1987 GRP
Festival 1988 GRP
Color Rit 1989/1990 GRP
Stolen Moments 1990 GRP
Collection 1991 GRP
Wes Bound 1992 GRP
Larry & Lee (with Larry Carlton) 1995 GRP
Alive in L.A. 1997 GRP
This Is Love 1998 i.e. Music/Polygram
Rit's House 2002 Verve
Friendship/The Captain's Journey (Reissue) 2005 Wounded Bird
Rio/On the Line (Reissue) 2005 Wounded Bird
Overtime 2005 Peak
World of Brazil 2005 GRP Smoke n’ Mirrors 2006 Peak
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Ritenour was born January 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. He played his first session when he was 16 with the Mamas and the Papas. Nicknamed “Captain Fingers”, he (along with Larry Carlton) was a sought-after session guitarist by the mid-1970s. He is noted for playing his red Gibson ES-335 and his Gibson L5 guitars. One of his most notable influences is the pioneering jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1976, he released his first solo album, First Course. This was followed up by his fusion work Captain Fingers in 1976. Since First Course he has released over 30 albums — the 30th being Rit’s House in 2002. One of his most notable works is his pop album (featuring vocalist Eric Tagg) 1981 Rit, which contained chart hits “Is It You,” and “Mr. Briefcase.” In the 90s, he was one of the founding members of smooth jazz group Fourplay.
Source: http://www.last.fm/music/Lee+Ritenour
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True to its intriguing and provocative title, Lee Ritenour's latest CD Smoke N' Mirrors takes listeners on a magical, multi-faceted global journey unlike any other in the legendary guitarist's three decade, nearly 40 album career. Inspired by his very first trip to South Africa in 2005, where he performed five hugely successful concerts at festivals in Johannesburg and Capetown, with Smoke N' Mirrors, Ritenour takes an expansive, polyrhythmic approach, working with musicians from South Africa, Cameroon-West Africa, Brazil, Columbia, Peru and India. Also joining him on this recording is an exciting mix of old friends who happen to be some of America's top jazz performers. Among those featured are pianists Dave Grusin and Patrice Rushen; drummer Vinnie Colaiuta; along with bassists John Patitiucci, Brian Bromberg, Abraham Laboriel and Richard Bona. There are eight percussionists on the record including Sheila E., Alex Acuna and Paulinho Da Costa and on tables is Satnam Ramgotra from India. Ever the innovator, Ritenour employs a total of 12 guitars, his most ever, to achieve what can only be described as sonic perfection. These include the Gibson Lee Ritenour Model and a wide variety of baritone, steel and high string guitars.
Smoke N' Mirrors also marks the American recording debut of South African singing sensation Zamajobe on three songs as well as the composing and recording debut of Ritenour's thirteen- year-old son Wesley, a highly talented drummer. Wes adds brushes to Zamajobe's original song, the exotic call and response anthem "Memeza," and also composed the graceful melody of the soulful and atmospheric "Stone Cool."
"The concept for the album came from a lot of different sources, all of which coalesced with my trip to South Africa," Ritenour says. "I'd been getting letters for years asking me to come and perform there. I did a lot of touring throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe during 2005, and everything timed nicely for me to play in Capetown and Johannesburg in late August after my Western European dates. While the festivals there included some American acts, I was more excited by the native African players and some of the most intoxicating percussion and rhythm guitar playing I'd ever heard. Over the years, I have become more and more attracted to African music, and this trip solidified that connection for me."
Ritenour's title Smoke N' Mirrors has a subtle political connotation, but on the creative side, it refers to some incredibly magical, serendipitous moments that occurred during the conception and recording process. The guitarist "discovered" the singer Zamajobe -- a recent South African New Artist of the Year winner who had just released her hit debut album in that country -- one restless night while watching TV in Capetown,. He saw several of her videos on South Africa's version of MTV and loved her voice, especially the difference when she sang English (with almost a Sade like quality) to when she performed in her native African language. Back in L.A., Rit contacted her label Sony BMG and soon was talking via email and phone to her guitar player and producer Eric Pilani. Through the magic of high speed internet and back and forth MP3 files, Rit was able to get her sensuous vocals on an Africanized version of Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" and an old school soul jazz take on Patrice Rushen's "Forget Me Nots" (which also features Rushen on vocals, Fender Rhodes and organ). Smoke N' Mirrors also features Zamajobe's original song "Memeza," a shorter version of which appeared on her own album.
Another unexpected hookup happened with singer/songwriter Daniel Jobim, grandson of Brazilian legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, whom Ritenour hadn't seen to in years. Rit had been looking for an original, authentic Brazilian tune for the project when he ran into Jobim by chance in L.A. The multi-talented performer sent Rit an MP3 file of the ultra-romantic "Blue Days (Dias Azuis"). Lee loved the tune and kept Jobim's original lead vocal on the final track. The song also includes additional lead vocals by Brazilian singing sensation Joyce, Rit on acoustic guitar, Grusin on piano, Patitucci on acoustic bass and Danilo Caymmi's tender flute. Other key tracks on the CD include: the hypnotic title track; a revisit of Grusin's Brazilian flavored 1989 song "Southwest Passage;" the spirited, guitar-driven songs "Capetown" and the "Township," "Water's Edge," which displays Ritenour's genius for masterful fingerstyling; "Spellbinder," featuring Bromberg's grooving bass and Indian born tabla master Satnam Ramgotra; and the electric rock-flavored "Motherland."
Growing up in L.A. in the '60s, Ritenour received a rich cross section of exposure to jazz, rock and Brazilian music -- with artists like Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, The Byrds, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Sergio Mendes and Stan Getz, who helped introduce Brazilian music to the masses. Highlighting his eclectic and storied career is a rich history in the Brazilian realm which includes a Grammy win for Harlequin, his 1986 collaboration with Grusin (also voted by Jazziz Magazine as one of the Top Ten contemporary jazz albums of all time), producing the 1997 all-star project A Twist of Jobim, and the memorial tribute concert to Antonio Carlos Jobim at Lincoln Center, starring Sting, Herbie Hancock, Joao Gilberto and Caetano Veloso., among others.
Along with his emergence as a solo artist with his Epic albums First Course and Captain Fingers in the mid '70s, Ritenour's sideman days are the stuff of musical industry lore. His nearly 2,000 recordings include artists ranging from Paul Simon, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan to Herbie Hancock and Pink Floyd's The Wall. It was during that time he began his longtime association with Dave Grusin on soundtracks and other recordings, which reached a crescendo on Harlequin. In addition to the Grammy win for Harlequin, he has earned 17 Grammy nominations, numerous #1 spots in guitar polls and the prestigious "Alumnus of the Year" award from USC. Since the '70s, he has also been a huge presence in radio. In 1981, he scored the Top 15 hit "Is It You," featuring vocalist Eric Tagg, which has become a smooth jazz radio classic. His singles "Water to Drink" from 1997's Twist of Jobim and "Get Up Stand Up," from 2001's A Twist of Marley were both named #1 Radio & Records NAC airplay singles of their respective years.
In the '90s, he was a founding member of Fourplay, the most successful band in contemporary jazz, with keyboardist Bob James, bassist Nathan East and drummer Harvey Mason. The first Fourplay album in 1991 spent an unprecedented 33 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's contemporary jazz chart. In addition to producing his own recordings, Ritenour has produced the three highly successful Twist Of projects along with such artists as Eric Marienthal, Phil Perry and Vesta, which were released on his i.e. music label.
"While I have loved working on every album I've done throughout my career," he says, "there were all these magical things that happened along the way on Smoke N' Mirrors. Because of its scope, all of the musicians involved in the process, and the many guitar textures I chose to incorporate, the project took a total of eight months to complete. I was excited every step of the way by each aspect of the creative process, from composing and arranging, to recording and mixing. After producing well over 30 albums, I can tell when I'm onto something that will have enduring value and I can honestly say that on every level, Smoke N' Mirrors has been an extraordinary experience!"
Lee Ritenour All Music Guide Biography
Lee Ritenour has long been the perfect studio musician, one who can melt into the background without making any impact. While he possesses impressive technique, Ritenour has mostly played instrumental pop throughout his career, sometimes with a Brazilian flavor. His few jazz efforts have found him essentially imitating Wes Montgomery, but despite that he has been consistently popular since the mid-'70s. After touring with Sergio Mendes' Brasil '77 in 1973, Ritenour became a very busy studio guitarist in Los Angeles, taking time off for occasional tours with his groups and in the mid-'90s with Bob James in Fourplay. He also recorded many albums as a leader including Portraits (1987), Wes Bound (1992), Larry & Lee with Larry Carlton (1994), This is Love (1997), Overtime (2005) and Smoke 'N' Mirrors (2006).
~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
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