The Rippingtons

The Rippingtons
Cover from Brave New World (1995)
Background information
Origin	United States
Genres	Smooth jazz, jazz fusion, jazz pop, crossover jazz
Years active	1985–present
Labels	GRP, Windham Hill, Peak, Concord
Website	www.rippingtons.com
Members	Russ Freeman

The Rippingtons are an American contemporary jazz group mainly relating to the genres smooth jazz, jazz fusion, jazz pop, and crossover jazz. Formed in 1985 by guitarist and band leader Russ Freeman, their career has spanned three decades. With a revolving door of musicians, Freeman has been the only consistent member.

Many of their songs have been played during The Weather Channel's local on the 8's forecast segments. The song Morocco, from the album Kilimanjaro, was often used on KHON2's morning news. The band's mascot is a grinning, sunglasses-wearing, jazz cat which appears in the artwork of all the band's releases and on their official website.

Past members have included the following artists: bassists Kim Stone, 1990–2008, Steve Bailey and Bill Lanphier; saxophone players Brandon Fields, Kenny G, Kirk Whalum and Nelson Rangell; pianists/keyboard players Dave Kochanski, David Benoit, Gregg Karukas, Tom McMorran and Mark Portmann; drummers Tony Morales, David Anderson, Omar Hakim, and Dave Hooper; and percussionists Scott Breadman, Ray Yslas and Steve Reid.

The band name was conceived by Russ Freeman after hearing friends play "and they were ripping", so Freeman thought of Rippingtons for a name.

The band's recording career began in 1986 with the recording of Moonlighting. The album was well received by critics and consumers and featured the song "She Likes to Watch," which has gone on to become a staple of the band's live set and one of their signature tunes. In January 1988 the Rippingtons released Kilimanjaro and began to tour more extensively. Mark Portmann, Steve Bailey (replacing Bill Lanphier), and Jeff Kashiwa joined the band, the band then released Tourist in Paradise. The tour for this album featured the group's first visit to Japan with David Benoit in 1989, where they joined the special summer concert series in Tokyo produced by Japanese saxophonist, Sadao Watanabe.