 The
year is 1986. The place is a little jazz club in North
Hollywood called the Baked Potato. If you are there on
Monday night you’ll find Russ Freeman, Tony Morales, Steve
Reid, Bill Lanphier and Gregg Karukas onstage playing to a packed
house. If you are there on the right Monday night, you’ll
find Kenny G or Marcus Miller sitting in. Russ Freeman’s
first solo project, Nocturnal Playground,
is on the streets. Russ decides the time might be right
to get the band together and try to capture some of that magic
on an album… a one-time thing… all of the musicians
had other gigs…
18 years and 17 Rippingtons albums later, Moonlighting,
is still considered to be one of the most influential contemporary
jazz albums of all time. The artists credits reads like
a Who’s Who list of today’s contemporary jazz headliners.
Russ Freeman, David Benoit, Dave Koz, Kenny G, Brandon Fields,
Steve Reid, Gregg Karukas, along with Tony Morales, Jimmy Johnson
and Bill Lanphier all put their touch on this piece of musical
history.
Moonlighting is comprised of
eight pop/jazz/R&B fusion tracks, including audience favorites, “She
Likes To Watch” and “Dreams,” all written,
arranged and produced by Russ Freeman. Freeman, Karukas,
Morales, and Reid make up the core group, and there’s a
lot of new-for-the-time technology utilized – guitar synthesizer,
Linn 9000 programming, EMU percussion programming, and EWI (electric
wind instrument). Opening the album is the upbeat title
track featuring Brandon Field on sax. Kenny G puts his
unmistakable touch on “She Likes To Watch.” Russ
Freeman on classical guitar and David Benoit on piano give “Angela” its
gentle, more organic sound. Benoit is also featured on
the atmospheric “Dreams” along with a 23 year-old
sax player named Dave Koz on EWI.
Benoit takes the lead
on “Mirage” which also features
Brandon Fields and Steve Reid’s trademark percussion. The
fun “Calypso Café” is definitely shades of
things to come for that classic Rippingtons sound. The
edgier “Open All Night” is a great Freeman/Kenny
G/Steve Reid collaboration. The moodier, more introspective “Intimate
Strangers” closes the album highlighting Koz on EWI and
Benoit on piano.
Hey, sometimes you can own a little piece
of history.
- Elizabeth Ware
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