Russ Freeman

Who was Russ Freeman?

Russell Donald Freeman was a bebop and cool jazz pianist and composer.

Initially, Freeman was classically trained. His reputation as a jazz pianist grew in the 1940s after working with Art Pepper and Shorty Rogers, and led to collaborations in the 1950s with Chet Baker and Shelly Manne.

In 1957 he collaborated with André Previn on the album Double Play!, where they both played piano, accompanied only by Shelly Manne on drums.

In 1991, Mariah Carey wrote her own lyrics to Freeman's "The Wind" for her album Emotions. Freeman had written "The Wind" with original lyrics by Jerry Gladstone; it had been performed as an instrumental piece during the 1950s and 1960s by the likes of Chet Baker, Leo Wright, and Stan Getz, and had been sung by vocalist June Christy. Freeman's piano is featured on Chet Baker's 1954 recording of "The Wind". Freeman remained busy in music throughout his life, transitioning from jazz pianist to film scoring and composition before his death in Las Vegas in 2002.