The Rippingtons’ Russ Freeman – HuffPost 7.11.14

Mike Ragogna: The Rippingtons came in a wave with Incognito and Yellowjackets, and it seems like you all benefitted from that surge of “new jazz.” Do you see another jazz wave coming?

Russ Freeman: I just think that as new artists are coming on the scene, EDM is influencing quite a bit of music. I know that seems like a non-sequiter, but in terms of what I’m seeing and in terms of culture I think that’s kind of what’s happening, and it’s kind of a different vocabulary and we’re not used to that, the instrumentation is different. I don’t know how to specifically answer the chronology of what you’re saying but I think that as new artists appear we’re going to be influenced by their surroundings and their culture. Does that make sense?

MR: Sure and that leads us to my traditional question. What advice do you have for new artists?

RF: My nephew is a really good guitar player and aspiring musician and I see that it’s difficult in this environment although there are new opportunities we never had. But what he’s doing is multimedia and to branch out into new ways would be my best advice.