Longtime fan favorites Jeff Kashiwa and Steve Reid rejoin
Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons for a special all-star
tour which includes shows at the Hyatt Regency Newport
Beach, the new Mammoth Wine & Jazz Festival and
Thornton Winery, plus a CD/DVD package commemorating
the band’s 20th anniversary
 By Jonathan Widran
Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons are celebrating their
20th anniversary this year doing what they do best––hitting
the road and performing explosive versions of songs that
have become smooth jazz classics for thousands of fans
across the country.
With 25 dates running through September––including
stops at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Sept. 15, the
Mammoth Wine & Jazz Festival Sept. 16 and Thornton
Winery on the 17th––they’re not doing
anything close to the breakneck schedule of 2005, when
they performed 70 concerts nationwide.
But Freeman promises great surprises for this tour, including
the return of saxman Jeff Kashiwa, who played with the
Ripps throughout the ’90s, and percussionist/soundscape
master Steve Reid, whose wild onstage antics were a trademark
of live performances for more than 10 years after they
started touring in the late ’80s. Eric Marienthal,
who has toured regularly with the band since 2001, will
cover the handful of dates Kashiwa doesn’t play.
“Jeff and Steve were such a big part of the band for so many years, and
our fans really wanted to see them play with us again,” Freeman says. “So
they’re back by popular demand as we share this special time in our history.
I’ve always given our loyal fans credit for our success, and it’s
still so much fun getting out there and playing. There’s just this bond
that I can’t explain, sort of a magical energy that goes beyond everyone
enjoying the music. They’ve always inspired me to push myself to do the
best show possible, and also to write and produce fresh new music.
“Over the years,” he adds, “the physical stress of travel
has always been a challenge, but once we’re on stage, it’s all
worth it. I think we’ve lasted this long because we’ve found a
way to connect with the fans, and I think they find that our music has some
truth to it. They know it comes from the heart. Truthfully, when I started
in this business, my goal was to be a working studio musician. And while I
do spend a lot of time in the studio making records, the best part of the past
two decades has been having a chance to meet so many great people around the
world. The excitement never grows old.”
Reid and Kashiwa are just two of the Ripps’ alumni
who play on the new disc 20th Anniversary, a CD/DVD package
that Freeman designed as a gift for all of the group’s
fans––but particularly those who were there
from the start, when he gathered a bunch of his studio
buddies in 1986 to record their first CD Moonlighting.
The sessions were like an all-star class reunion of sorts,
as all Rippingtons recording and touring members past and
present alternated performances on 10 brand-new compositions
and “A 20th Anniversary Bonus,” a retrospective
medley featuring newly recorded snippets of nine classic
Ripps cuts. Over the years, a handful of these tunes have
become staples of the smooth jazz radio format.
The guest list is truly a dream gathering of genre superstars.
Complementing Kashiwa, Reid, Marienthal and current longtime
touring members Kim Stone, Bill Heller and Dave Karasony,
are Paul Taylor, Kirk Whalum, Patti Austin, Jeffrey Osborne
and special guest Brian McKnight, who sings lead on the
romantic new song “Anything,” which he also
wrote and produced. 20th Anniversary also reunites most
of the L.A. musicians who performed on Moonlighting—saxophonists
Brandon Fields and Dave Koz (who played the electronic
woodwind instrument, known as the EWI); pianists David
Benoit and Gregg Karukas; bassist Jimmy Johnson; and drummer
Tony Morales.
“When I realized the anniversary was coming up, the challenge was to
decide how many older songs I should revisit versus how much new material to
include,” says Freeman. “I thought the best of both worlds would
be to bring back performers from across the years to play all new material.
That way we’re not dwelling on nostalgia and we’re showing that
the Ripps is still a vibrant and creative group. I had a great time putting
together the medley, which I thought would be the perfect way––in
six minutes––to pay homage to what we had accomplished in the past.
“Each of these musicians contributed something unique to the overall
sound of what the Rippingtons became and brought their own unique perspective
to the music,” he adds. “Once I had everyone on board, I saw this
project as a tremendous opportunity to broaden myself as a songwriter, because
I would be composing parts for musicians I hadn’t worked with in a long
time and I knew they would be great. I wanted to get back to that embryonic
stage, the enigmatic energy we had way back when. The most important thing
I realized was how much more experience I have now in dealing with musicians
and evoking strong performances. Over the years, as my interests have expanded
to include more exotic elements like flamenco guitar and salsa, I also have
developed a more refined palette of musical colors. I like to think I paint
with a finer brush than I used to and have a much more diverse musical vocabulary.”
The DVD includes a sampling of the music videos the Ripps
have shot over the years and a colorful documentary featuring
an album-by-album retrospective and an insightful interview
by Freeman. While Freeman dedicates the album to the late
singer and longtime friend Carl Anderson ––who
first vocalized with the group on the title track to 1989’s
Tourist in Paradise––he symbolizes the band’s
loving relationship with its fans by dedicating the tropical-flavored
song “Costa Del Soul” to Jack Sherman, a longtime
devoted admirer.
Sherman was 9 years old when Freeman met him, and the two
developed a strong friendship as the young man battled
cancer for many years. Freeman sent him a copy of 20th
Anniversary the minute it was finished, and Sherman died
while listening to it at the age of 17.
“He was buried in his T-shirt that had the cover of our album, Black
Diamond, on it,” Freeman says. “He really impacted my life. He
always said he was our biggest fan, but in truth, I was his biggest fan. It
just goes to show you the incredible power music has to bring people together.”
Aside from Bill Mayer’s famed Jazz Cat (the band’s “mascot,” whose
ultracool image graces every album cover), one of the other
threads running through the Rippingtons’ discography
is the way Freeman has shared his outside hobbies with
his fans through music. When he moved from L.A. to Colorado
in the early ’90s, he became an expert skier, an
experience he chronicled on Curves Ahead and Black Diamond.
In the late ’90s, he became interested in all things
Southwest, and the result was Topaz. Toward the end of
the decade, he moved to his current home near the ocean
in Boca Raton, Florida, and immersed himself in the salsa
and Cuban sounds of nearby Miami; these experiences inspired
Life In The Tropics and 2005’s Wild Card, featuring
popular Cuban-American singers Willy Chirino and Albita.
His passion for golf (which, along with running on the
beach, is still his favorite recreational activity) was
a big part of Let It Ripp! which featured the Jazz Cat
swinging a club on the cover.
The guitarist/producer is also something of an Internet
whiz, a passion that led him to call the group’s
1995 album Brave New World and inspired him to create an
interactive website (www.rippingtons.com), which includes
a car driving across a timeline of the band’s history.
A new and improved website is in the works. Freeman also
spends a lot of his spare time building multilingual websites
for everyone from doctors, dentists, lawyers and record
companies as part of an incorporated business called Sondemedia.
“I think all of this developed because of the way our website allowed
us to stay in touch with our fans,” he says. “I wanted to keep
improving our page so that the fans would have a place to speak out, let us
know what’s up and become friends with each other. When I realized I
was becoming good at web page design, I started branching out. That sort of
reflects the way I’ve always approached the Rippingtons music as well.
No matter how successful we’ve become, I never take it for granted.
“We have a solid history now after 20 years,” he adds, “but
my goal is to keep making records that are compelling, rather than rest on
our laurels. The smooth jazz format came along at the right time for us to
have an outlet, and I’m grateful for the opportunities it has afforded
us. But even if one type of song becomes successful on the radio, I make a
conscious effort never to repeat myself or write in a formulaic way. I’m
very conscious about following my heart and giving my band and, most importantly,
the fans, the best that I have every time out.”
ON TOUR
Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons 20th Anniversary tour
includes performances at, among other places, the following
venues this month:
- Sept. 15 - 8pm
The WAVE’s Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Summer Jazz
Series
Hyatt Regency Newport Beach
1107 Jamboree Road
Newport Beach, California
www.summerjazzseries.com
www.jazzconcerts.com
(949) 729-6400
- Sept. 16
Mammoth Wine & Jazz
Sam’s Wood Site
Minaret Road between Main St.
and Meridian Blvd.
Mammoth Lakes, California
www.mammothevents.com
www.mammothmountain.com
(760) 934-0606
Packages: (800) MAMMOTH
- Sept. 17 - 4pm
Thornton Winery’s
Champagne Jazz Series
Thornton Winery
32575 Rancho California Road
Temecula, California
www.jazzconcerts.com
(951) 699-3021
For more information on the Rippingtons, including their
complete tour schedule,
visit their website at www.rippingtons.com.
Discography
1987 Moonlighting GRP
1988 Kilimanjaro GRP
1989 Tourist in Paradise GRP
1990 Welcome to the St. James
Club GRP
1991 Curves Ahead GRP
1992 Weekend In Monaco GRP
1993 Live in L.A. GRP
1994 Sahara GRP
1995 Brave New World GRP
1997 Black Diamond Windham
Hill
1998 Topaz Windham
Hill
1999 Best of the Rippingtons GRP
2000 Life in the Tropics Peak
2003 Live Across America Windham
Hill
2003 Let It Ripp Peak
2005 Wild Card Peak
2006 20th Anniversary Peak
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