Lee Ritenour
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.
Over the course of Rit's milestone thirty
recordings, (including 1997's Alive in L.A., the first time
he chronicled his live performances), he has earned several
gold albums, numerous #1 spots in guitar polls and the prestigious
"Alumnus of the Year" award from USC. Since the 70s,
Rit has been a huge presence in a cross-section of radio genres.
In 1981, he scored the pop 15 hit "Is It You," featuring
vocalist Eric Tagg, which has also become a smooth jazz radio
classic. Most recently, "Get Up Stand Up," the first
single from the A Twist of Marley recording, was the #1 Radio
& Records NAC airplay single of 2001.
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, while their
Grammy-nominated follow-up, Between the Sheets, captured the
top slot on the Billboard, R&R, Gavin and NAC charts on
its way to a gold sales certification. In addition to producing
his own recordings, Ritenour has produced projects for such
artists as Eric Marienthal, Phil Perry and Vesta, which were
released on his i.e. music label, along with A Twist of Jobim.
Additional production credits include Patti Austin, Will Downing
and most recently, A Twist of Marley.
