Jordan Owen: Writer, Musician, Blogger: Cool Music Mondays: True Stories by The Rippingtons feat. Russ Freeman

The Rippingtons are my favorite modern jazz group bar none- even Spyro Gyra takes a back seat. They have that perfect sound for the western world- it's scorching saxophone and wailing guitars complemented by ambient keyboard washes a blue-eyed soul rhythm section of the highest order. It's music for enjoying a glass of wine from a balcony overlooking Buckhead. It's the sound of browsing at Phipps Plaza. It's tones and tonalities of a life well lived in the upward thrust of a capitalist utopia.

Russ Freeman, founder and bandleader, has got to be the most underrated guitarist on the planet. You won't hear his name mentioned alongside the likes of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani and that is a crime. His fluid, lyrical, and often virtuosic playing would find good company somewhere between Eric Johnson and David Gilmour- but where those cats are prying open their third eyes, Russ is shooting the slopes in Aspen or spending the weekend in Monaco. He's living the high life and writing the soundtrack for it all the while.

I got into the Rippingtons with the release of Let it Ripp, when Russ was writing music to accompany his passion for golfing. Throughout the years he's taken the Ripps down many roads- their 2012 LP Built to Last featured performances with an entire symphony orchestra and even a guest appearance by Zakk Wylde- yes that Zakk Wylde.

True Stories, the band's latest offering, is a more traditional affair, focusing on playing up the core Rippingtons sound with very little experimentation but that's certainly not a criticism. The core Rippingtons sound is a beautiful and majestic thing to be cherished and held high in hand. Bill Heller is there to wrap the proceedings in smooth keys while Brandon Fields takes up the sax mantle once held by Eric Marienthal and Jeff Kashiwa.

If there be one criticism of True Stories it is the album's sole vocal track "My Promise to You" featuring Jeffery Osbourne. Normally an instrumental band, the Rippingtons' occasional use of vocalist on tracks here and there is controversial among fans and critics alike. When it works you examples like their stunning renditions of Caravan of Love and While my Guitar Gently Weeps, both off Brave New World (my personal favorite Rippingtons album though Weekend in Monacco is an imperceptibly close second) but this time around the vocal track doesn't really resonate with me. Hardly a major stumbling block- the rest of the album is stunning.

On a personal note, I saw the Ripps live at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on two occasions. The first was on the Wild Card tour and the second was on the 20th Anniversary tour. Both times I got to meet Russ Freeman and he was the coolest guy you'd ever care to know. Friendly, personable and, above all, he actually remembered my name the second time I met him! Big time of my life. Big time.

Cheers,

-Jordan