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Mark Lettieri

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Mark Lettieri
Background information
Bornc. 1984 (age 39–40)
San Francisco Bay Area,[1] California, U.S.
OriginMenlo Park, California, U.S.[2]
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • producer
Instrument(s)Guitar, Baritone guitar, Bass
Years activec. 2007–present
Labels
Member of
Websitemarklettieri.com

Mark Lettieri (born c. 1984)[3] is an American guitarist, composer and producer. He is a member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, funk band The Fearless Flyers, and also performs with his quartet, the Mark Lettieri Group. His background spans several genres including jazz, rock and funk. He has released seven solo albums. His 2021 album Deep: The Baritone Sessions Vol. 2 was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

Life and career

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Mark Lettieri and Cory Wong at the Old National Centre in November 2024.

Lettieri was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.[1][4] At age 12 he began playing guitar. He names Jimi Hendrix and Joe Satriani as early influences for expanding his interest in the instrument.[5][6] Along with guitar lessons (including jazz guitar), he learned by playing along with recorded music and emulating guitar parts, and playing gigs in various bands.[7][4] He studied marketing at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas,[1][4] and after graduating decided to pursue music professionally.[7][5] He performed in the Dallas-Fort Worth music scene in clubs, recording sessions, backing bands, and in a variety of genres including R&B, gospel, Christian, country, blues, rock and funk.[7][4][5][8] In regard to starting out as a musician, he said he needed to be versatile and be able to perform in any role and style.[4]

In 2008 he started performing and recording with the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, at the time a Dallas-based band whose members along with Lettieri shared the common influence of the Dallas R&B music scene.[1][4][9] He is a member of the ensemble and has received five Grammys with the band.[1][10][a] He is a founding member of The Fearless Flyers, an instrumental quartet consisting of guitarist Cory Wong, bassist Joe Dart and drummer Nate Smith. Since 2018 the quartet has released four EPs, a studio album and a live album.[1][11] He performs and tours with his quartet, the Mark Lettieri Group, consisting of bassist Wes Stephenson, keyboardist Daniel Porter, and drummer Jason "JT" Thomas.[5] He has performed as a session and touring musician with Erykah Badu, David Crosby, Kirk Franklin, Ledisi, Dave Chappelle and others.[1][9][7] In 2021, he collaborated with Apple Inc. to create a package of downloadable guitar loops for the digital audio workstations Logic Pro and GarageBand.[12]

In 2011 Lettieri started releasing his solo works. He has released several solo albums, three of which have charted on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart.[13][14][b] Lettieri describes his style as textural and groove-based performance, with serving the song being first priority.[4][6][9] His 2021 album Deep: The Baritone Sessions Vol. 2 was nominated for a Grammy award in the category Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[15] In 2021, the PRS Guitars company introduced the Mark Lettieri signature Fiore guitar which incorporates Lettieri's design preferences.[16]

Equipment

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Lettieri's primary instruments include his signature PRS Fiore,[c] a Fender/Grosh hybrid Stratocaster, a Grosh NOS Retro, a PRS McCarty 594 and a Bacci Leonardo baritone guitar. His primary amplifiers are the Supro Statesman and Kemper Profiler. He uses J. Rockett, MXR, Jackson Audio, and TC Electronic pedals and Dunlop Nickel Wound strings. He also uses a variety of other instruments and accessories as needed.[5]

Personal life

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Lettieri lives in Fort Worth, Texas.[2] He is married and has a daughter.[7][17] In college he competed in track and field.[17]

Discography

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Studio albums

  • Knows (2011)
  • Futurefun (2013)
  • Spark and Echo (2016)
  • Deep: The Baritone Sessions (2019)
  • Things of That Nature (2019)
  • Deep: The Baritone Sessions Vol. 2 (2021)
  • Can I Tell You Something? (2024)

Extended plays

  • Fly Through It (2022)

Live albums

  • Out by Midnight: Live at the Iridium (2023)

with The Fearless Flyers

  • The Fearless Flyers (2018)
  • The Fearless Flyers II (2019)
  • Tailwinds (2020)
  • Flyers Live at Madison Square Garden (2021)
  • The Fearless Flyers III (2022)
  • The Fearless Flyers IV (2024)

with Snarky Puppy

Session discography selected works[13]

Artist Album
David Crosby
  • Sky Trails (2017)
Kirk Franklin
  • Losing My Religion (2015)
  • Long Live Love (2019)
Ledisi
  • Let Love Rule (2017)
Anthony Evans
  • Real Life/Real Worship (2014)
Ghost-Note
  • Swagism (2018)
Larnell Lewis
  • In the Moment (2018)
Tasha Page-Lockhart
  • Here Right Now (2014)
  • The Beautiful Project (2017)
Fred Hammond
  • God, Love & Romance (2012)
  • I Will Trust (2014)
Tamela Mann
  • The Master Plan (2009)
  • Best Days (2012)
  • One Way (2016)
Shaun Martin
  • 7 Summers (2015)
Tori Kelly
  • Hiding Place (2018)
The Walls Group
  • Fast Forward (2014)
Lecrae
  • Anomaly (2014)

Notes

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  1. ^ The song "Something" and albums Sylva, Culcha Vulcha, Live at the Royal Albert Hall, Empire Central won Grammy Awards.
  2. ^ Albums Spark and Echo, Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Things of That Nature charted at #11, 21, 12 respectively.
  3. ^ Lettieri's signature PRS Fiore was introduced in 2021.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Marcy Donelson. "AllMusic: Mark Lettieri – biography". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Allison Silverman (July 5, 2012). "M-A grad Mark Lettieri is lead guitarist on Badu tour". The Almanac. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  3. ^ Amit Sharma (June 25, 2019). "Mark Lettieri: Learn the differences in how a rock guitarist plays a chord..." Total Guitar. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022 – via musicradar.com.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Scott Goldfine (September 9, 2021). "Truth in Rhythm Podcast - Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy), Part 1 of 2" (Podcast). funknstuff.net. Event occurs at 5:17–7:41, 12:08–13:10, 18:06–19:45, 22:02–22:48, 34:43–36:52. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022 – via Apple Podcasts.
  5. ^ a b c d e Jason Shadrick (May 23, 2019). "Mark Lettieri's Fearless Funk". Premier Guitar. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  6. ^ a b David Mead (July 31, 2017). "Mark Lettieri's top 10 tips for guitarists". Guitarist. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2022 – via musicradar.com.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Don't Give Up Your Day Job's Podcast – Episode #69" (Podcast). buzzsprout.com. April 4, 2019. Event occurs at 12:45–13:05, 17:15–19:05, 22:35–22:40, 24:05–28:05, 33:30–34:50, 40:40–40:55. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  8. ^ Scott Goldfine (September 10, 2021). "Truth in Rhythm Podcast - Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy), Part 2 of 2" (Podcast). funknstuff.net. Event occurs at 7:30–7:40. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022 – via Apple Podcasts.
  9. ^ a b c Samuel Roberts (May 22, 2019). "Snarky Puppy's Mark Lettieri is making instrumental guitar cool again". Guitar.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  10. ^ "Grammy Awards: Snarky Puppy". grammy.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  11. ^ Matt Owen (February 4, 2022). "Cory Wong and Mark Lettieri announce the return of the Fearless Flyers". Guitar World. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  12. ^ "GarageBand amps up music creation with all-new Sound Packs from Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga, and today's top music producers". apple.com. July 29, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "AllMusic: Mark Lettieri – credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  14. ^ "Billboard: Mark Lettieri – chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  15. ^ "Grammy Awards: Mark Lettieri". grammy.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  16. ^ Jamie Dickson (September 6, 2021). "Mark Lettieri: 'It's funny that I have a guitar with so many options...'". Guitar World. Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Steve Steward (March 1, 2017). "Nice Work If You Can Get It". Fort Worth Weekly. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
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