Rippingtons
Curves Ahead
The Story
"Curves Ahead" is another Rippington's crowd pleaser, delivering a smooth, sometimes energetic collection of modern instrumental jazz numbers. The title track ebbs and flows with electric energy and Freeman's guitar, while "Take Me With You", "Aspen" and "Nature Of The Beast" deliver the crisp Rippingtons sound found on predecessors "Welcome To The St. James' Club" and "Tourist In Paradise". Interesting guest players include GRP label exec Dave Grusin on piano on "North Star" and sax man Nelson Rangell on "Santa Fe Trail" and the title track. Some fine drumming by Omar Hakim and Tony Morales here too, as "Curves Ahead" contains less sequenced drums than earlier releases.
The Music
| 05:39 | Curves Ahead | Instrumental |
| 05:28 | Aspen | Instrumental |
| 05:14 | Santa Fe Trail | Instrumental |
| 05:34 | Take Me With You | Instrumental |
| 05:24 | North Star | Instrumental |
| 05:17 | Miles Away | Instrumental |
| 04:51 | Snowbound | Instrumental |
| 06:21 | Nature Of The Beast | Instrumental |
| 04:09 | Morning Song | Instrumental |
The Artists
| Russ Freeman | Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Keyboards, Guitar Synthesizer, Bass, Classical Guitar, Steel-String Guitar, Production, Arrangements, Horn Arrangements, Engineering, Digital Mixing |
| Tony Morales | Drums |
| Kim Stone | Bass |
| Jeff Kashiwa | Tenor and Alto Sax, Soprano Sax |
| Steve Reid | Udu Drums, Congas, Shakers, Japanese & Chinese Bells, Jingle Stick, Caxixi, Blocks, Toys, Tambourine, Percussion, TImbales, Surdo, Ganza, Cowbell, Apito, Vocals, Guiro, Crotalies, Spinning Bells, Chimes, Bongo, Clave, Pods, African Sound Scape (Bata, Djembe, Djun Djum, Axaste, Repinque, Seed Pods, Shekere, Bird Calls, Rain Stick) |
| Steve Szabo | Trumpet |
| Nelson Rangell | Alto Sax, Flute |
| Robert Martin | Tenor Sax |
| Bruce Fowler | Trombone |
| Mark Portman | Acoustic Piano, Piano Solo, Keyboards |
| Dave Grusin | Acoustic Piano, Piano Solo, Executive Production |
| Omar Hakim | Drums |
| Kirk Whalum | Tenor Sax |
| Steve Bailey | Additional Fretless and Fretted Bass |
| Robert Margouleff | Engineering, Digital Mixing |
| Brant Biles | Engineering, Digital Mixing |
| David Hesse | Additional Engineering |
| Andi Howard | Production Coordination |
| Michael Landy | Post-Production |
| Joseph Doughney | Post-Production |
| Larry Rosen | Executive Production |
| Carl Griffin | Associate Executive Production |
| Michelle Lewis | GRP Production Coordination |
| Bill Mayer | Front Cover Artwork |
| Jeff Latz | Color Photography, Black & White Photography |
| Dan Serrano | Graphic Design |
| David Gibb | Graphic Design |
| Andy Ruggirello | Graphic Design |
| Scott Johnson | Graphic Design |
| Sonny Mediana | Graphic Design |
| Andy Baltimore | GRP Creative Directtion |
| Recorded at Underwear Studios, Burbank, CA.
Additional recording at The Slam Shack, North Hollywood and Alpha Studios, Burbank, CA. Mixed with B.A.S.E. Spacial Audio Processing at Alpha Studios, Burbank, CA. Mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Post-Production at The Review Room, NYC. Hair and Make-up: Lucia Castaneda. |
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