Track Listing

1. Let It Ripp
2. Mr. 3
3. Lucky Charm
4. Private Getaway
5. High Life
6. Avalon
7. Bella Luna
8. Stingray
9. 17 Mile Drive
10. Cast a Spell
11. Get Over It

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19508 in Music
• Released on: 2003-05-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.com
There may not be a serious smooth jazz fan alive who, even on first hearing, wouldn't recognize the band playing the title track. Such is the compositional imprint guitarist and leader Russ Freeman has left on the genre. On the other hand, his writing style, even the way he voices his music and the overall sound of his band, has been so imitated and saturated that the Rips just being the Rips has almost become a smooth jazz cliché. This is just another Rippingtons album, but is that a bad thing? For this release, Freeman and his boys did add a real horn section, arranged by the ubiquitous Jerry Hey, instead of multi-layered keyboard pads, and on solos the band has turned the ripping up just a tad, particularly keyboardist Bill Heller on "Mr. 3." On two tracks, buried deep in the album, "Stingray" and "17 Mile Drive," the Ripps do let it rip. On those tunes, the band is saying "this is what we could do and where we can go," but on most of this album, they're saying "this is what we have to do because so many Rippingtons fans have been down this old, comfortable road with us before." --Mark Ruffin

Customer Reviews

THEY SURE LET IT RIPP!
FIRST OFF THIS CD IS GREAT, IF YOU LIKE UPBEAT, UPTEMPO, WITH A LITTLE FUNKYNESS THROWN IN. PRETTY MUCH HALF OF THE CD IS MOSTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER RIPPINGTONS CD'S, AS NOT SO MUCH SMOOTH JAZZ BUT MORE UPBEAT. I THINK RUSS AND THE BOYS JUST GOT TIRED OF DOING THE SAME OLD THING AND DECIDED TO HAVE FUN. KIM STONE REALLY SHINES WITH SOME GREAT SLAP BASS AND THE OVERALL MELODIES MAKE YOU WANT TO TAP YOUR FOOT TO THE POINT OF GETTING UP AND DANCING. THERE ARE STILL SOME GREAT LATIN AND SMOOTH TRACKS THERE BUT THIS CD IS NOT FOR RELAXING WITH A GLASS OF WINE, IT'S MORE FOR A SPEEDY MOUNTAIN DRIVE WITH THE TOP DOWN. I REALLY RATE THIS CD HIGH, THOUGH IT IS A CHANGE FROM MOST OF THEIR OTHER WORK.

Very Disappointing
I am a fan of the Rippingtons since 1989. Seen numerous live concerts of them perform. Own almost all their CD's. But then, this album....with a title like LET IT RIPP.... is extremly disappointing. What happened Russ ? Barring a few songs like Private Getaway, Bella Luna & Cast a spell, the rest of the songs lack melody & direction. Russ seems to have lost a hold on this one. The instrumentation could have been much better with less/milder usage of sax & horns. Come on Russ...you are capable of something much better than this.

Almost , but not quite. . .
A common practice with my first listen/review of a CD is to review the insert. Russ indicates that, ". . . our fan's seem to really love our high energy stuff, so we decided to go for it." Well. . . ., almost. This CD is a far cry from Weekend in Monaco, Curves Ahead and nowhere near the brilliance of their first recording Moonlighting. There was a certain edge to the upbeat stuff on the earlier Rippingtons CDs that disappeared somewhere around/after the Black Diamond release. Let it Ripp certainly hints at some of the "lost energy" but never attains the heights. Now, this review is not a complete pan. The musicianship is top notch - kudos to Bill Heller for some really nice keyboard work and Eric Marienthal is solid as always and a great addition. The tunes are solid (albeit with the Russ Freemanisms mentioned by another reviewer) but the group, as a whole, never really "lets it ripp."