The Rippingtons, Life in the Tropics - 50m 20s

Tracks & Durations

1. Club Paradiso	4:21
2. Caribbean Breeze	4:41
3. Cruisin' Down Ocean Drive	4:23
4. Be Cool	4:38
5. Rhythm Of Your Life	4:25
6. Love Child	4:00
7. Avenida Del Mar	4:20
8. I Found Heaven	5:17
9. South Beach Mambo	4:24
10. Life In The Tropics	4:47
11. Island Aphrodisiac	4:56

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Review

When Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons exploded on the contemporary jazz scene in 1986 with Moonlighting, the leader's compositional and production style was a breath of fresh air. Over the next decade, however, his much-copied style became a parody of itself and the epitome of the tepid music associated with smooth-jazz radio. After a couple of record label changes, Freeman seems to have regrouped somewhat with Life in the Tropics. Although the first two tracks offer the same Rips formula of a guitar and/or sax line playing a line with computer-generated rhythms behind synthesizer flourishes adding up to nothing special, cuts 3 through 11 show Freeman searching for a new aural core to his style, a lot of which has to do with the Latin and Caribbean themes of the disc. In fact, "South Beach Mambo" sounds straight out of Santana's Supernatural sessions with a horn section adding spice. Saxman Eric Marienthal and pianist Bill Heller stand out, as does trumpeter Ramon Flores. The latter's horn stands particularly since it isn't the smooth-jazz clichéd alto horn sound that the Rippingtons made infamous. Keyboardist Bob James also does a guest shot on what is easily the Rippingtons' best album since 1994's Sahara. --Mark A. Ruffin

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