Grammy-winning guitarist Lee Ritenour grew up in L.A. during the 1960’s. He was exposed to jazz, rock, and Brazilian music. His 40-year long and varied career includes a Grammy Award for his 1986 collaboration, Harlequin with Dave Grusin; 17 Grammy nominations; many #1 spots in guitar polls and USC’s prestigious “Alumnus Of The Year” award. His albums include 35 chart hits, including the Top 15 hit, “Is it You”, which is a modern jazz radio icon. Ritenour, along with Bob James, Nathan East, and Harvey Mason, was a founding member in the 1990s of Fourplay, which became the most successful contemporary jazz band. In 1991, the first Fourplay album spent 33 weeks at No. Billboard’s contemporary-jazz chart ranked No. 1 in 1991. His latest CD Smoke ‘n’ Mirrors, his collaboration with Dave Grusin on their 2001 Grammy Award-nominated contemporary classical crossover CD, is now Grammy-nominated. He is also the producer of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band’s Act Your Age, which is up for 3 Grammy nominations. It has been a long journey since Ritenour’s famous Tuesday night performances at Baked Potato with a band that included Dave Grusin and Patrice Rushen, Harvey Mason, and Ernie Watts, became a part of the music landscape for five years. The crowds would fill the house until the early hours of the morning to see Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, George Benson and Al Jarreau, Joe Sample and even Joni Mitchell. His diverse music, which included jazz, blues and rock, was the basis of more than 3,000 sessions. He also played with a wide range of artists, including Pink Floyd (The Wall), Steely Dan(Aja), Dizzy Gilespie, Sonny Rollins (Sonny Rollins), Joe Henderson, B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, Simon
