TAKE FIVE: THE RIPPINGTONS

Thursday, May 10, 2007 | 7:28 a.m.

Who: The Rippingtons

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Santa Fe Station's Chrome Showroom

Tickets: $27.50 to $44.95; 658-4900

Jazz ain't what it used to be.

The music is acquiring different styles within styles as new musicians come along and put their own spin on what is jazz.

The Rippingtons, often described as a smooth jazz group, are winding down their 20th Anniversary Tour, a trip that has crisscrossed the country since summer and will continue for a few more weeks.

Founder Russ Freeman, a native of Galveston, Texas, recently talked to the Sun from his home in Boca Raton, Fla., discussing the music and his group, whose long list of graduates includes Kenny G and David Benoit.

A number of former members, including saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa and percussionist Steve Reid, have joined the Rippingtons for the lengthy tour, which comes to Santa Fe Station's Chrome Showroom this weekend.

1. On surviving in the jazz world

It's definitely shrunk in terms of places to play, but we've been so lucky in terms of having a great fan base, a great agent and wonderful venues. I've been probably luckier than you can hope to be in this business, especially the way things are now.

2. On influences

I really like George Benson. I like to listen to Pat Metheny. On of my favorite guitar players is Larry Carlton. All those guys are still around, and I grew up on them. I haven't met Pat Metheny, but I've met all the other guys.

3. On the evolution of jazz

It's interesting to think about that. I always try to think of the controversy that straight-ahead jazz had when the contemporary stuff came out, basically 20 years ago. When that kind of jazz started with Miles Davis it was very controversial. Now he's kind of the father of that movement. It's probably true. People come along and redefine the genre for an era and then it changes, but it's always going to exist as an art form in one way or another.

4. On the latest CD, "20th Anniversary"

There are quite a few guest artists on the CD. Initially there was a misnomer. People thought it would just be a retrospective of older music, but it's actually a brand - new CD of new material. The thing is we have a lot of old guest stars from the very beginning of the band coming back to play new material. A whole great list of talent. Jeffrey Osborne singing. Patti Austin. David Benoit. Dave Koz is on the CD. So are a lot of others, a bunch of great people.

5. On defining the Rippingtons

I don't know if I would characterize what we play as jazz. I think it's been labeled that because it's instrumental music. We have all sorts of different musical vocabularies in what we do. What I've tried to do over the last 20 years is to try to include as many different styles of music as I possibly could to make it as diverse as I could. That's made us that much harder to define.