Rippingtons - Weekend In Monaco (1992)

I like Rippingtons in small doses. Their Latin-influenced, instrumental, jazz-rock music is consistently upbeat, melodic, and slick. I wouldn't exactly put it in the smooth jazz' category because it's all just a bit - what's the word I'm looking for? - aggressive? in-your-face? high energy? let's just go with "heavily caffeinated." One mid-tempo ballad and it's saved for the last track. The album isn't bad, but a whole 50 minute album with so little variety can be a bit much for this guy.

The album's cover art, featuring the Rippington's "Jazz Cat" mascot and designed by Bill Mayer, is worth mentioning and I found this blog post from a graphic designer explaining why it is so eye-pleasing: http://thetimbrown.blogspot.com.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #147
Peak on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz LPs chart: #2
Peak on CashBox Jazz Albums chart: #3

Tracks: My top picks are St. Tropez, Vienna, and A Place For Lovers.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. This CD came to my shelves in a lot of about 10 jazz CDs I purchased on eBay a few years back.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Brave New World (1996)