Shannon West recently interviewed Rippingtons main man Russ Freeman at the SmoothViews site. Check out Freeman’s thoughts on composing, painting, balancing new songs with the classics when touring, what may be his favorite saxophone performance on a Rippingtons recording, and more. Shannon also reviewed the new Rippingtons recording Modern Art, saying “these are tight, short, melodic songs that give the musicians a lot of room to breathe and take some fascinating twists and turns along the way.”