Lee Ritenour, (born Lee Mack Ritenour, 11  January 1952, Los Angeles, CA, USA) has  maintained a delicate balance between the  individual creative vision and the group dynamic,  since the beginning of his career. He did his first  session work in the late ‘60s with the Mamas  and the Papas, who dubbed him Captain Fingers  for demonstrating incredible dexterity while still  in his teens.  

Since his early recordings in the 1970s, he has  earned a GRAMMY Award and 19 GRAMMY  nominations, numerous #1 spots on guitar polls,  a Lifetime Achievement Award from the  Canadian SJ Awards, and a prestigious  “Alumnus of the Year” Award from the University  of Southern California. He has recorded more  than 40 albums that have yielded 35 chart  songs. As a young guitarist, he put his  combination of diverse musical styles and  brilliant technical chops to work on more than  3,000 sessions with a broad spectrum of artists,  and was a founding member of Fourplay, which  is considered the most successful group in  contemporary jazz.  

Lee celebrated five decades as a guitarist in  2010 with the release of 6 String Theory, which  features Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, John  Scofield, Slash, Mike Stern, George Benson and  B.B. King. The album also introduced Andy  McKee, Joe Robinson and Guthrie Govan. The  record was in conjunction with his first multi 

national 6 String Theory Competition, sponsored  

by Yamaha, Berklee College of Music, Montreux Jazz Festival, Blue Note Tokyo, Crown of the Continents Guitar Workshop and  Festival, Monster, Premier Guitar, Jazz Monthly, Music Connection, Concord Records and D’Addario. 

The Six String Theory competition continues to grow, and has now expanded to include a Rhythm Section competition for Piano,  Bass and Drums. In 2012, the Grand Prize winners were honored to appear with Lee on Rhythm Sessions, which also features  luminaries such as Chick Corea, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Dave Grusin, Marcus Miller and many others. The 2014 winners  performed at the illustrious Montreux Jazz Festival and the guitar grand prize winner, Tony Pusztai, recorded a track on Ritenour’s  2015 A Twist of Rit album starring greats such as: Academy® & Grammy® winning Dave Grusin, Dave Weckl, John Beasley, and  Ernie Watts. Prize highlights for the 2016 competition included: Berklee College of Music Scholarships; performance at the  legendary Blue Note Tokyo with Lee Ritenour and up-and-coming All-Star musicians from Japan; recording on Lee Ritenour’s  forthcoming album at the stunning Woodshed Recording Studio in Malibu and Scholarships and Performances at Crown Guitar  Festival in scenic Montana. Other prizes include travel and hotel for performance and recording opportunities, Yamaha Instruments  & Endorsements, Professional Mentoring with Lee Ritenour, Monster and D’Addario prizes. The competition is held bi-annually and  has just completed the 6th competition with applicants from 55 countries. 

“When I first started this competition it was my hope it would grow to become a valuable entity that would have the support of so  many established musicians in mentoring aspiring ones. In four short years we have reached incredible goals and I couldn’t be  more thrilled and grateful to have so many artists be part of this extraordinary musical process and journey.” - Lee Ritenour  

On April 22, 2016, Concord Records released The Vinyl LP Collection: a limited-edition, individually numbered box set celebrating  a key period in the prolific solo career of renowned guitarist Lee Ritenour. The Collection contains five classic LPs by Ritenour:  Earth Run (1986), Portrait (1987), Festival (1988), Color Rit (1989) and, on vinyl for the first time, the GRAMMY® Award nominated Wes Bound (1993). These albums have each been remastered, pressed on audiophile-quality, 180-gram vinyl and  restored with original artwork and liner notes. An accompanying 46-page booklet contains new liner notes by Ritenour plus never before-seen photos and ephemera from an extensive scrapbook collection lovingly kept by the guitarist’s late father.