The Relaxed Rippingtons Hit the Road : Music: A Rocky Mountain retreat helped inspire the group, which kicks off a national tour this week at Humphrey’s.

Rippingtons leader Russ Freeman joined thousands of other fleeing Californians when he moved from Burbank to a high-altitude hideaway in Colorado last December.

Tucked away on 33 acres outside Colorado Springs, Freeman’s big log-and-wood home is equipped with a studio, and the Rippingtons’ newest, sixth recording, “Weekend in Monaco,” released today, is the first one he has made there.

Freeman, who brings his band to San Diego for two shows at Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay at 7 and 9 p.m. Thursday, said his new home inspired some of the music on the new release. Band members stayed there while they recorded, and their relaxed, upbeat mood spilled over into songs such as “St. Tropez,” “Indian Summer” and “Carnival!”

Guitarist Freeman, 32, founded the Rippingtons in 1986, but the lineup has changed several times. Typically, recordings have featured special guests such as Omar Hakim and Dave Grusin, but Freeman says the group’s current 3-year-old crew has grown strong enough to stand on its own. They’ve done two recordings together, and Freeman gives his sidekicks an increasing amount of solo space alongside the room he makes for himself.

Freeman still writes all the music, but envisions a time when his band mates--including saxman Jeff Kashiwa and keyboard player Mark Portmann--will contribute to the writing chores.

Extensive road time during the past three years has made Freeman more secure than ever with the band’s live sound. The Rippingtons will make their first live recording next month during shows at the Ventura Theater (Sept. 25) and the Greek Theater (Sept. 26) in Los Angeles, for a live album due next year. Although the band has had a few videos on VH-1, the grown-up MTV, it has never done a whole video album. The Greek performance will be taped for upcoming Laserdisc release.

The Rippingtons are fresh off their first European tour, which included appearances at the Montreux and North Sea jazz festivals. As Freeman noted, these gatherings have strayed from their jazz mission. At Montreux, for example, the Rippingtons followed Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr, and Freeman said the festival’s name will probably be changed next year to reflect its broader offerings.

In San Diego, the Rippingtons are opening a national tour that will last into November. Their shows this Thursday will include a few selections from “Weekend in Monaco” plus a cross section of material from the previous five releases. Tickets are $20.

Guitarist Steve O’Connor is resurfacing on the local club scene after disappearing into the viable but oft-invisible world of studio work for several years.

O’Connor, 47, a Grossmont High School graduate, was a fixture on San Diego’s jazz scene during the late 1960s and ‘70s, playing with Butch Lacy, Jim Plank, Bob Magnusson and other top locals. In fact, it was Plank who changed O’Connor’s life by recommending him for a job writing commercial music for Sea World. O’Connor worked regularly for the aquatic park until it was sold two years ago.

At the same time he was busy with Sea World, O’Connor embarked on a lucrative commercial career at San Diego studios, such as Tuesday Productions. During the industry’s early-1980s prime, at least 10 studios kept local players busy with commercial work.

“That doesn’t sound like much compared with L.A., but down here that was jumping,” he said. “Musicians were running around doing two or three gigs a day. You could make $400 to $600 in a day.”

But the once-thriving local commercial music scene is nearly dormant now, according to O’Connor. Only a couple of commercial studios (Signature Sound and Seacoast Recording) remain, he said. But that hasn’t curtailed his career. The advent of the affordable home-digital recording studio has transformed this side of O’Connor’s music into a profitable cottage industry.

The most visible commercials featuring his music at the moment are several 30-second Jeep television spots.

Meanwhile, O’Connor, who names jazz guitarists Jim Hall, Ed Bickert and Ralph Towner as role models, has lately been scratching an itch to get back to acoustic straight-ahead jazz. He’s playing every Sunday evening from 4 to 8 at the Salmon House restaurant on Mission Bay, with bassist Glen Fisher’s band. This Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4:30 at University Masonic Lodge (3858 Front St.), he’ll perform Latin jazz with a group of top locals, including vocalist Coral Thuet.

O’Connor’s playing emphasizes restraint and lyricism over speed. He wrings new emotion out of old standards and is well worth a trip.

RIFFS: San Diego guitarist Jaime Valle says the title track from his new “ ‘Round Midnight” CD is getting regular air time on WQCD, New York City’s pop-jazz station. Valle hasn’t yet cracked the playlist of his home station, KIFM (98.1). He appears Wednesday evenings from 5 to 9 at Tutto Mare restaurant in the Golden Triangle, Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 at La Valencia in La Jolla and Sunday evenings from 5 to 9 at the Bay Beach Cafe in Coronado. . . .

Bassist Larry Morgan’s specialty is scat-singing complex jazz tunes by people like Charlie Parker. Catch him with the group Nutty Buddies from 8 p.m. to midnight Fridays at the U.S. Grant hotel. . . .

Percussive Latin music has hit the Inn L’Auberge in Del Mar, where San Diego band Afro Rumba performs Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 8. . . .

Tony Bennett’s two shows at Humphrey’s on Friday night will probably sell out, but you should be able to purchase the $23 tickets in the next couple of days (278-TIXS).

CRITIC’S CHOICE: GOING LIVE AFTER T.V.

Free and clear of his longstanding “Tonight Show” obligation with Doc Severinsen, saxophonist Tommy Newsom is working more live dates, including shows Friday and Saturday in San Diego, his first performances at the Horton Grand Hotel downtown.

Newsom’s last recording as a leader was “Tommy Newsom and his T.V. Jazz Stars”--players from Johnny Carson’s show--released last year. He is also a part of this year’s “Once More With Feeling,” with Severinsen’s TV band.

Newsom plays the Horton Grand with three “Tonight Show” alums: pianist Ross Tompkins, trombonist Bobby Enevoldsen and drummer Ed Shaughnessy, plus San Diego bassist Bob Magnusson. Music starts at 8:30 both nights. There’s a $10 cover charge.