UPS AND DOWNS OF ALL-STAR RIPPINGTONS

There’s both an upside and a downside to all-star music get-togethers. World-class individual skills don’t always submit easily to the demands of ensemble playing.

But when three first-rate fusion players--pianist David Benoit, guitarist Russ Freeman and alto saxophonist Brandon Fields--got together to form a “moonlighting” group called the Rippingtons, their debut recording (which also included tenor saxophonist Kenny G) sounded all upside.

Unfortunately, their performance Friday night at the Beverly Theatre revealed that the group’s work has its downside as well.

Freeman, guiding spirit of the Rippingtons (he produced and wrote all the songs on their album), tried hard to keep the energy level high with guitar playing that ranged from biting fusion lines on “Calypso Cafe” and “What She Really Wants” to a surprisingly gentle acoustic solo on “Angela.”

But Benoit, usually a buoyantly outgoing player, seemed surprisingly detached. His original, “Easter Island,” surfaced as a temperate musical travelogue rather than the steamy tropical dance it becomes when performed by his own group.

And the determinedly mono-timbre saxophone of Fields too often failed to find its way through the wash of synthesizer sound. An impressive improviser and a master of the instrument’s high harmonics, Fields nonetheless will be a more persuasive performer when he realizes he doesn’t always have to sound like David Sanborn.

It wasn’t until the evening’s last number--an encore, actually--that the Rippingtons finally made the transition from skilled but cautious individual soloists to an interactive, driving musical ensemble.

The resulting high-voltage performance revealed just how good all-stars can be when they decide to aim their energies in the same direction. It was well worth the wait, but even all-stars owe their audience a little more than one upside piece.