Mark Lettieri

An accomplished guitarist recognized for his singular approach to instrumental rock, Mark Lettieri works as a session musician, issues recordings under his own name, and belongs to ensembles such as Snarky Puppy and the Fearless Flyers, an offshoot of Vulfpeck. His command of numerous genres surfaced on the debut solo album Knows in 2011, which blended rock, jazz, and pop, while the third LP, Spark and Echo from 2016, brought his first appearance on the Billboard jazz chart. Studio credits during this period include sessions with David Crosby, Kirk Franklin, and Tori Kelly.

Lettieri grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and later settled in Fort Worth, Texas, after first picking up the guitar in middle school. He moved to the state to enroll at Texas Christian University, where he majored in advertising and public relations. Following graduation he entered the gospel and R&B circles of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, an involvement that led him to join Michael League’s jazz-funk collective Snarky Puppy in 2008. His initial recordings with the group appeared on the third album, Bring Us the Bright, that same year, and he returned for Tell Your Friends in 2010. Around the same time he contributed to gospel releases by Fred Hammond, Myron Williams, and Tamela Mann.

Lettieri assembled Knows, his self-released solo debut, in 2011 with assistance from various Dallas scene musicians. Snarky Puppy issued GroundUP in 2012 and Family Dinner, Vol. 1 in 2013, the latter year also marking the arrival of Lettieri’s Futurefun. The album displayed contrasting styles, tempos, and textures and featured Snarky Puppy drummer Robert Searight plus bassist Braylon Lacy, whose credits include Erykah Badu and Kirk Franklin. Subsequent Snarky Puppy projects comprised We Like It Here in 2014, the Metropole Orkest collaboration Sylva in 2015, and both Family Dinner, Vol. 2 and Culcha Vulcha in 2016, before Ropeadope released Spark and Echo later that year. While Snarky Puppy secured its first Billboard 200 entries with Sylva and Culcha Vulcha, Lettieri reached number 11 on the jazz chart. In 2017 his session work appeared on David Crosby’s Sky Trails, Let Love Rule by Ledisi, and Close by Marvin Sapp.

Formed in 2018, the Fearless Flyers united Lettieri with drummer Nate Smith, guitarist Cory Wong, and bassist Joe Dart of Vulfpeck; the quartet delivered a self-titled debut EP followed by The Fearless Flyers II in 2019. That same year Lettieri issued his fourth solo album, Deep: The Baritone Sessions, compiled from the social-media series Baritone Funk Thursday and spotlighting his baritone guitar, which climbed to number 21 on the jazz albums chart. He also employed baritone guitar alongside electric guitar on Snarky Puppy’s Immigrance, released in 2019.