Russ Freeman

Nashville-born guitarist Russ Freeman learned to play the guitar at a young age thanks to a family friend who was a session musician in Music City and allowed the boy to watch him at recording studios. Soon, he gained studio work himself from demos to spirituals. Influenced by jazz guitarists such as George Benson and Larry Carlton, he developed the fusion of country and jazz that he has performed to great success with his band The Rippingtons.

Freeman moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 and found jobs on Jane Fonda's workout tapes, commercials and recordings by artists including Anne Murray and Engelbert Humperdinck. He founded The Rippingtons in 1985 and over the next 30 years they recorded 22 albums, six of which went to number one on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart. Freeman conceived the band as a floating aggregation and current members feature drummer Dave Karasony, pianist Bill Heller, bassist Rich Belled with Jeff Kashiwa, Paul Taylor and Eric Marienthal alternating on saxophone. Previous contributors have included Kenny G on saxophone, Kim Stone on bass and David Benoit on keyboards.

In 1986, his first album 'Nocturnal Playground' landed in the Billboard Jazz Chart in its first week of release and one year later 'Moonlighting' established Freeman and The Rippingtons as a major force in contemporary jazz, with Jazziz magazine calling the recording "the number one most influential contemporary jazz album of all time". They celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2016 by releasing their 22nd album 'True Stories' and set out on a US tour in 2017.