Smooth Jazz Collection - The Rippingtons

My interest in smooth jazz began when my father introduced me to The Rippingtons and specifically the album, Weekend in Monaco.

The Rippingtons are an American contemporary jazz group with main relation to smooth jazz, as well as jazz fusion, jazz pop, and crossover jazz.

 

Russ Freeman is a guitarist and core to The Rippingtons, which has gone in and out of members since forming in 1985 but nonetheless holds strong to the present day.

 

(Further details about the history of The Rippingtons can be found on Wikipedia.)

 

As of 1986, The Rippingtons have recorded 19 albums...one being Weekend in Monaco.

 

Weekend in Monaco was released in August 1992 and reached #2 on Billboard's contemporary Jazz Chart.

 

The track list -

 

Weekend in Monaco

St. Tropez

Vienna

Indian Summer

A Place for Lovers

Carnival

Moka Java

Highroller

Where the Road Will Lead Us

 

Every song on the album is unique in tone and rhythm.  However, there is a sense of increasing beat until the last track.  "Where the Road Will Lead Us" is calm, soothing, and opens with sounds of ocean waves lapping onto the shore line.

 

Weekend in Monaco truly is quintessential smooth jazz and worth considering listening to should you find interest in this genre.