rippingtons
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Top Contemporary Jazz Albums – September 15, 1990
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ContemporaryJazz.com is looking back at the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart from 35 years ago. Michael Franks’ 1990 release Blue Pacific glowed with his trademark lyrical cleverness – playful turns of phrase and gentle humor wrapped in breezy storytelling. The album’s uncommon trio of producers: Jeff Lorber, Tommy LiPuma, and Walter Becker (yes, the…
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1995, charts, chris botti, contemporary jazz, david sanborn, fourplay, george duke, grover washington jr., incognito, pat metheny, rippingtons, smooth jazz, spyro gyraTop Contemporary Jazz Albums – April 22, 1995
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According to Billboard magazine, here were the Top Contemporary Jazz Albums for the week of April 22, 1995! Meanwhile, over on the Top Jazz Albums for the same week, David Sanborn was on top with Pearls, his lush recording with orchestral arrangements. And Grover Washington, Jr. was also on the chart with All My…
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Driving Beverly Hills – Mark Portmann goes solo in 1994
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Before he became a nine-time Grammy nominee, a baby-faced Mark Portmann was a part of the contemporary jazz scene. Here’s a review of his Driving Beverly Hills release that I originally wrote 30 years ago (with some updates). Playing with one of top groups in contemporary jazz was bound to have an effect. Mark Portmann…
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1988, charts, chick corea, contemporary jazz, david benoit, dianne reeves, kirk whalum, michael brecker, rippingtonsTop Contemporary Jazz Albums – June 25, 1988
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Bobby McFerrin had the top recording on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart 35 years ago. Simple Pleasures was spending its second week as the #1 album the week of June 25, 1988. Simple Pleasures was a bestseller thanks to the massive success of the single “Don’t Worry Be Happy” According to McFerrin on the…
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The Benoit/Freeman Project Review
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On 2.22.22 (Feb. 22, 2022), I was thinking about duets and some of my favorites. One that immediately came to mind was the first Benoit/Freeman Project. Here’s the review I wrote for a newsletter I wrote and designed for KBIA, the NPR station I worked at this time in 1994: A few years ago, Russ…