BIOGRAPHY
Lee Mack "Captain Fingers" Ritenour was born January 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. At the age of 16, he played his first session with Mamas and Papas and after two years, he was backing Tony Bennett and Lena Horne. Lee became a sought-after session player in the mid-70's. And at the age of 24, he started his own solo career. During his early career, he was influenced by the relaxed styles of Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel.
Lee has released over 30 albums and collaborations throughout his career. His first album, First Course, was criticize as "lightweight". So Lee countered this with his strongly fusion-based follow up, Captain Fingers. And was followed by The Captains's Journey and Feel The Night. In 1979, he played on Pink Floyd's The Wall, contributing rhythm guitar to "One of My Turns" and acoustic guitar to "Comfortably Numb". In the 1980's, he added pop elements on his music which produced the song "Is Is You" featuring Eric Tagg. In the mid-80's he was strongly influenced by Brazilian music.
In the early 90's, Ritenour teamed up with Bob James, Harvey Mason and bass player Nathan East under the name of Fourplay. The band released a number of soul, jazz, funk fusion albums for Warner Records. In 1993, Lee made a tribute album to Wes Montgomery, Wes Bound. Then in 1995, he and Larry Carlton released Larry and Lee, an excellent joint album. In 1998, Lee left Fourplay and continued his solo career. He was replaced by 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.In 2000, he and Dave Grusin returned to their classical roots with "Two Worlds". In 2001 he released the 2nd of the "twist of" trilogy, with a tribute to Bob Marley, placing reggae classics in a contemporary setting. 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."
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 or double-DVD set. 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.
Lee Mack "Captain Fingers" Ritenour was born January 11, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. At the age of 16, he played his first session with Mamas and Papas and after two years, he was backing Tony Bennett and Lena Horne. Lee became a sought-after session player in the mid-70's. And at the age of 24, he started his own solo career. During his early career, he was influenced by the relaxed styles of Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel.
Lee has released over 30 albums and collaborations throughout his career. His first album, First Course, was criticize as "lightweight". So Lee countered this with his strongly fusion-based follow up, Captain Fingers. And was followed by The Captains's Journey and Feel The Night. In 1979, he played on Pink Floyd's The Wall, contributing rhythm guitar to "One of My Turns" and acoustic guitar to "Comfortably Numb". In the 1980's, he added pop elements on his music which produced the song "Is Is You" featuring Eric Tagg. In the mid-80's he was strongly influenced by Brazilian music.
In the early 90's, Ritenour teamed up with Bob James, Harvey Mason and bass player Nathan East under the name of Fourplay. The band released a number of soul, jazz, funk fusion albums for Warner Records. In 1993, Lee made a tribute album to Wes Montgomery, Wes Bound. Then in 1995, he and Larry Carlton released Larry and Lee, an excellent joint album. In 1998, Lee left Fourplay and continued his solo career. He was replaced by 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.In 2000, he and Dave Grusin returned to their classical roots with "Two Worlds". In 2001 he released the 2nd of the "twist of" trilogy, with a tribute to Bob Marley, placing reggae classics in a contemporary setting. 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."
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 or double-DVD set. 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.
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