Founded in 1985 by guitarist Russ Freeman, The Rippingtons are a jazz fusion band known for their musical forays into smooth jazz, pop, and crossover jazz. Throughout the band’s career, Freeman has remained the band’s only constant member. Throughout their career, the band has featured the cream of the crop in jazz circles including Eric Marienthal, Kenny G, David Benoit, Kirk Whalum, Nelson Rangel, Omar Hakim, Gregg Karukas, Steve Reid, and many others. Signed to the GRP Records label, The Rippingtons’ debut album, Moonlighting, was released in 1986. The album reached the Number 5 position on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart. The album featured “She Likes to Watch”, which has become one of their signature songs. Kilimanjaro, their second album, was released in 1988 and climbed to Number 3 on the chart. The band released a total of eight albums on GRP, with three of them reaching the top of the Jazz Albums chart: Welcome to the St. James’ Club, Curves Ahead, and Sahara. The band left GRP and began releasing their albums on Peak Records, a label co-founded by Freeman. The Rippingtons’ subsequent releases all reached the Top 5 on the chart, hitting Number 1 with Black Diamond (1997), Built to Last (2012), and True Stories (2016). Outside of his work as leader of The Rippingtons, Freeman has also released three solo albums, two collaborative albums with David Benoit, and has appeared on albums by Barry Manilow, Tim Weisberg, Brian Bromberg, Carl Anderson, and others.
