Earth Run

1986 studio album by Lee Ritenour

Earth Run

Studio album by

Lee Ritenour

Released

April 1986

Studio

Starlight Studio, Burbank, California

Genre

Jazz fusion, smooth jazz

Length

44:28

Label

GRP

Producer

Lee Ritenour
Greg Mathieson
Dave Grusin
Larry Rosen

Lee Ritenour chronology

Harlequin
(1985)

Earth Run
(1986)

Portrait
(1987)

Earth Run is the fifteenth studio album by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour, released in April 1986 through GRP Records.^[1] The album reached number ten on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in the United States^[2]^[3] and received a Grammy Award nomination for Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental. The title track was also nominated for Best Instrumental Composition.^[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

Richard S. Ginell at AllMusic awarded Earth Run 2.5 stars out of 5, calling it "a more interesting record than most of its immediate predecessors" and noting the "peculiarly fuzzy, futuristic sound" of Ritenour's SynthAxe guitar synthesizer (as depicted on the cover art; one of nine different guitars used on the album). He also listed "The Sauce" and the cover of Herbie Hancock's "Butterfly" as highlights.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Soaring"	Lee Ritenour	5:38
2.	"Earth Run"	Ritenour, Dave Grusin	4:39
3.	"If I'm Dreamin' (Don't Wake Me)"	Ritenour, Martin Page, Maurice White	5:12
4.	"Watercolors"	Don Grusin	5:14
5.	"The Sauce"	Greg Mathieson	4:22
6.	"Butterfly"	Herbie Hancock	5:11
7.	"Hero" (CD edition bonus track)	Ritenour, Grusin	3:52
8.	"Sanctuary"	Ritenour	4:46
9.	"Water from the Moon"	Ritenour	5:33
Total length:			44:28

Personnel

Lee Ritenour – arrangements (1-3, 5-9), acoustic guitar (1), electric guitars (1, 3, 5-7), guitar melody and solo (1, 2, 4, 8), SynthAxe (1-4, 6, 8), SynthAxe with Oberheim and Yamaha synthesizers (1, 2, 4, 8), electric classical guitar (2, 4-6, 8, 9)
Dave Grusin – keyboards (1, 2, 4, 6, 9), arrangements (2, 4, 7), synth bass (3), acoustic piano (8)
Marcus Ryle – SynthAxe programming (1, 2), synthesizer programming (7)
Larry Williams – synthesizers (1), SynthAxe programming (1, 2), horns (1), synthesizer programming (3, 5)
David Foster – keyboards (3), synth bass (3), arrangements (3)
Don Grusin – synthesizers (4), keyboards (7), synthesizer programming (7)
Greg Mathieson – keyboards (5), synth bass (5), arrangements (5)
Casey Young – synthesizer programming (5)
Jimmy Johnson – bass (1, 4, 7, 9)
Abraham Laboriel – bass (2, 6)
Carlos Vega – drums (1-3, 5-7, 9)
Harvey Mason – drums (8)
Paulinho da Costa – percussion (2-9)
Ernie Watts – tenor saxophone (1, 4)
Jerry Hey – horns (1)
Tom Scott – Lyricon (9)
Phil Perry – lead vocals (3)
Maurice White – vocals (3)
Tommy Funderburk – vocals (3)

Production

Dave Grusin – executive producer
Larry Rosen – executive producer
Lee Ritenour – producer, additional recording
Greg Mathieson – producer (5)
Don Murray – recording, mixing, digital editing
Terry Bowen – second engineer, additional recording
CMS Digital (Pasadena, California) – editing location
Wally Traugott – mastering at Capitol Studios (Hollywood, California)
Andy Baltimore – creative direction, album design
David Gibb – album design
Dan Serrano – album design
Dario Campanile – front cover oil painting
Victoria Pearson – photography
Shankman/DeBlasio – management

Charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Billboard Jazz Albums^[3]	10

References

^ ^a ^b "Earth Run - Lee Ritenour". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
^ Lee Ritenour: Earth Run. GRP Records. April 1986.
^ ^a ^b "Lee Ritenour: Earth Run (Jazz Albums)". billboard.com. Billboard Magazine.
^ "Lee Ritenour". Grammy.com.