Rithenaur, Lee

Rithenaur was born in 1952 in Los Angeles , mastered the guitar at the age of 6, and later studied with such masters as , and Joe Pass . The first recording in the studio at Lee took place at the age of 16 together with the group The Mamas & the Papas , at the same time Rithenaur and received his nickname "Captain Fingers" ^[4] for his mastery of the guitar. After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1973, he took part in the tour of the Brazilian pianist and composer Sergio Mendes Sergio Mendes and the Brasil '77 ^[5] , after 1974 he worked in the studio, recorded with Herbie Hancock , , Sonny Rollins , and others. Lee's debut album was released in 1976 and was called .

“When I started working in the studio,” said Rithenaur, “they asked me to sound like all the other guitarists. But I had a kind of courage to move on. There are a lot of session musicians who always sound the same as everyone else. It is very difficult for a studio musician to find an identity. But I began to look for mine, and, in the end, I found it. " .

In 1979, he was involved in the recording of The Wall's album by Pink Floyd , in particular, Rithenaur performed guitar parts in the songs “ Run Like Hell ” ^[6] and “ ” ^{[7] [8]} .

The 1980s marked a period of creative success for Rithenaura, he continued to record albums, experimented in the genres of Latin American (especially Brazilian) pop music, and the 1985 record Harlequin , created together with pianist Dave Gruzin and Brazilian musician Ivan Lins , brought the long-awaited Graham award in the nomination "The best instrumental arrangement" ^[9] .

In 1981, Lee Ritenaura's album, Rit, was featured on seven different music charts, including rhythm and blues, disco, Adult Contemporary and jazz. . His highly successful LP Festival (1988) took first place on seven music charts. . An album featuring prominent Brazilian musicians Joao Bosco, Cayetano Veloso, and various New York studio musicians prompted People magazine to mention Ritenaura as "the first among equals in smooth jazz and fusion" .

“I think there is a certain level of maturity for some musicians who may feel the limitations of modern things,” Rithenaur mused in an interview with Down Beat after releasing his 1990 jazz album Stolen Moments ( Rus. Stolen moments ). “Maybe we need some fresh air, some rest.” Critics were taken aback by a recording that lacked the technology and Brazilian influence prevalent in his previous albums. “This is real jazz, performed in a high style that knows no timing,” wrote the Stereo Review .

Stolen Moments reflected Lee Ritenaura’s rejection of the cloning process, which he saw in the tendency of record companies to consistently release a recurring type of album onto the market. Guitar Player praised the musician for his originality: “Much more than re-singing of old styles, the album sparkles with freshness, the musician seeks to try out new ideas in a more free environment” .

In 1991, Rithenaur, together with jazz pianist founded the quartet, the group also included bassist and drummer . Despite the success of the team (Fourplay were nominated for a Grammy Award several times, and in 2007 received recognition in the US Congress ^[10] ), in 1998 Rithenaur decided to abandon participation in the group in favor of solo recordings, and Larry Carleton took his place ^{[ 11]} .

In the 2000s he continued to record albums, and also participated in the 8th, 9th and 10th annual ceremonies as a member of the jury evaluating the performances of independent musicians ^[12] .

In June 2010, in honor of the 50th anniversary of his musical career, Ritenaur released an album called 6 String Theory (the number 6 symbolized the number of musical genres that most often use the guitar: jazz , rock , blues , country , classical music and acoustic performance ^[13] ). The recordings included , Neal Sean , John Scofield , Slash , , , George Benson , BB King , Andy Mackay , Joe Robinson and Guthrie Gowan .

On November 9, 2012, Dave Gruzin and Symphonic Jazz Orchestra presented the premiere of Symphonic Captain's Journey Lee Rithenaura. Consisting of 67 musicians, Symphonic Jazz Orchestra gave the tenth anniversary concert with the participation of Grammy-winning and Oscar-winning pianist and composer Dave Gruzina. Conducted by the Mitch Gickman Orchestra, the piece was arranged by Gordon Goodwin.

Lee Rithenaur actively performs, sometimes with guitarist Mike Stern, bass player Melvin Lee Davis and drummer Sonny Emory.

Lee Rithenaur considers Jimmy Hendrix , , Joe Pass , Eric Clapton , but primarily Wes Montgomery (to whom he devoted the album Wes Bound ^[14] , 1993) to be his idols among guitarists. In the 1980s, Lee turned to Latin American music (starting with the Rio album), which he then began to regularly incorporate into his work, on many of his albums you can hear incendiary rhythms, including through collaboration with Brazilian percussionists Armando Marcel and .

A feature of Ritenaura’s playing style is the combination of various musical styles and guitar playing techniques; in addition, he adopted a lot from 1960s guitarists, for example, playing the octaves with the thumb of his right hand, which gives a soft, smooth sound, unlike the pick .

Most often at concerts, Rithenaur uses semi-acoustic guitars or , and when recording the album Earth Run (1986) he used the instrument.

• leeritenour.com - Lee Ritenaura official site
• Lee Rithenaur on the Internet Movie Database
• Interview for the site Jazz Monthly.com (neopr.) . Date of treatment October 24, 2012. Archived December 18, 2012. (eng.)
• “Festival Jazz in Kiev: promises are kept” - an article by the digital publication Full Jazz 2.0 (neopr.) . Date of treatment October 24, 2012. Archived December 18, 2012.
• 6 string theory Digital Booklet (neopr.) . Date of treatment October 24, 2012. Archived December 18, 2012. (eng.)
•   Lee Reitnaur performs Rio Funk at the Montreal Jazz Festival, 1991
• Stars of jazz (neopr.) . Date of treatment April 6, 2013. Archived January 23, 2013.