Russ Freeman

Chet Baker - My Old Flame, Chet Baker Quartet Live, Volume 3 (1954) {Pacific Jazz 31573 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 337 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 165 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 19 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954, 2001 Pacific Jazz / Capitol Records | 7243 5 31573 2 6
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

3 great Pacific Jazz CD's chronicling Chet Baker and Russ Freeman's live performances. This is where you really start to hear Chet find his own sound. He starts branching out on the two My Funny Valentine's found here, and his recordings of Stella By Starlight sound like the one's he did in the 1980's. The recording quality is pretty average in Volume 1, but it improves in Volume 2 and 3, especially considering how noisy American Jazz clubs used to be. Zing Went The Strings of My Heart is amazing, and it's one the fastest tempo tune Baker ever recorded. On several cuts, he plays the "Boo-bams", a bongo-type instrument invented by his friend Bill Loughborough.

Chet Baker - This Time The Dream's On Me, Chet Baker Quartet Live, Volume 1 (1954) {Pacific Jazz 7243 5 25248 2 2 rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 388 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 167 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 19 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1953-54, 2000 Pacific Jazz / Capitol Records | 7243 5 25248 2 2
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

3 great Pacific Jazz CD's chronicling Chet Baker and Russ Freeman's live performances. This is where you really start to hear Chet find his own sound. He starts branching out on the two My Funny Valentine's found here, and his recordings of Stella By Starlight sound like the one's he did in the 1980's. The recording quality is pretty average in Volume 1, but it improves in Volume 2 and 3, especially considering how noisy American Jazz clubs used to be. Zing Went The Strings of My Heart is amazing, and it's one the fastest tempo tune Baker ever recorded. On several cuts, he plays the "Boo-bams", a bongo-type instrument invented by his friend Bill Loughborough.

Life in the Tropics – the first Peak Records release for the Rippingtons – features guitarist Russ Freeman and is a great smooth jazz celebration of rhythmic delights that resemble the tropical splendor of an island oasis. The natural beauty of each composition is reflected by the great talents of the Rippingtons: Kim Stone on bass, Dave Kochanski on keyboards, Ramon Yslas on percussion, and Dave Hooper on drums, along with special guests the great saxophonists Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, and Paul Taylor, keyboardist Bob James, and guitarist Peter White. The centerpiece of this CD is "Love Child," a sensuous mid-tempo ballad that alternates the brilliant sax work of Marienthal and Taylor as Freeman strums an emotional string sonnet under soulful synths and keyboards. The romantic vocals of Howard Hewitt on "I Found Heaven" invite you to rediscover his intense passion for a great love ballad.

Chet Baker - Out Of Nowhere, Chet Baker Quartet Live, Volume 2 (1954) {Pacific Jazz 27693 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 278 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 137 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1954, 2001 Pacific Jazz / Capitol Records | 7243 5 27693 2 2
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

3 great Pacific Jazz CD's chronicling Chet Baker and Russ Freeman's live performances. This is where you really start to hear Chet find his own sound. He starts branching out on the two My Funny Valentine's found here, and his recordings of Stella By Starlight sound like the one's he did in the 1980's. The recording quality is pretty average in Volume 1, but it improves in Volume 2 and 3, especially considering how noisy American Jazz clubs used to be. Zing Went The Strings of My Heart is amazing, and it's one the fastest tempo tune Baker ever recorded. On several cuts, he plays the "Boo-bams", a bongo-type instrument invented by his friend Bill Loughborough.

First class fusion from guitarist Russ Freeman and company. Russ always uses the heavy hitters on the L.A. session scene, and Patti Austin contributes one vocal track.

The Rippingtons’ Russ Freeman has always led a peripatetic existence, growing up in Nashville and living in L.A., Colorado and Florida, among other locales. His wanderlust is reflected in much of his group’s music (Life in the Tropics, Morocco, etc.). On Cote D’Azur, French, Latin, Gypsy and Euro rhythms mix and mesh to make what will surely stand as one of the freshest contemporary-jazz CDs of the year. In the group’s 25th year, the Rippingtons continue to be at the top of their game.

Chet Baker - Jazz At Ann Arbor (1954) {Pacific Jazz Japan Mini LP TOCJ-9441 rel 2002}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 283 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 110 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 30 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remastered by Ron McMaster
© 1954, 2002 Pacific Jazz / Toshiba-EMI | TOCJ-9441 | Mini LP | Mono
Jazz / Cool / West Coast Jazz / Trumpet

Chet Baker (trumpet) was arguably at the peak of his prowess when captured in a quartet setting at the Masonic Temple in Ann Arbor, MI, May 9, 1954. He's joined by Russ Freeman (piano), Carson Smith (bass) and Bob Neel (drums), all of whom provide ample assistance without ever obscuring their leader's laid-back and refined style. Baker's sublime sounds also garnered notice from critics, who had placed him atop polls in both Metronome and Down Beat magazines the previous year.

The Denver-based trio Dotsero has been part of the smooth jazz landscape since the early days (making their debut in 1990), but despite a handful of picture-perfect efforts, the band has rarely received the popularity its music is due. All that should change with West of Westchester, their debut for Russ Freeman's Peak label, which was produced by the Rippingtons leader. Freeman adds numerous exotic and electronic effects to Dotsero's core sound of light-hearted melodies driven by Michael Friedman's plucky bass frolicking beneath Stephen Watts' optimistic sax lines. The title track, a cover of a classic Bob James tune, begins with a feisty blend of David Watts' echoing wah-wah guitar and trip-hoppy drum'n'bass percussion over Kip Kuepper's hypnotic electric keyboard riffs. Watts' rich alto melody on "Lodo Mojo" is backed by more wah-wah echo and a dreamy ambience, all enhanced by a shaker percussion groove.