Russ Freeman (born February 11, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a smooth jazz guitarist.

Life and career

Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Russ Freeman learned to play guitar at age ten from a friend of his father’s, who was a Nashville session musician. At age sixteen, Freeman was already playing sessions. Two years later, Freeman moved to Los Angeles, California to embark on a career as a session musician. He found various work such as playing for Jane Fonda workout videos, Englebert Humperdinck, Anne Murray and commercials. However, it wasn’t until the owner of a small record label, Brainchild Records, approached Freeman and offered to record a studio album for him. Freeman accepted, thinking it wasn’t going to come out to much, but it actually opened the doors to his next album, Moonlighting.

He studied for a time at UCLA and CalArts, but remained somewhat obscure before leading the studio-formed contemporary jazz band The Rippingtons in 1986. Freeman and his manager, Andi Howard, also formed Peak Records together in 1994. A producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, Freeman also plays bass, keyboards, synthesizer, and drums. His music can be heard during The Weather Channel’s “Local on the 8s” segments and his song “Brave New World” is included in their 2008 compilation release, The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II.

Freeman originally conceived of the Rippingtons as a changing lineup of strong contemporary jazz musicians. After releasing his debut solo album, Nocturnal Playground, in 1985, Freeman assembled the first version of the band, which featured David Benoit on piano and Brandon Fields, Dave Koz, and Kenny G on saxophones, for the appropriately titled Moonlighting (1986). Kilimanjaro, the first Rippingtons album to break into the pop charts, followed in 1988. As of 1989’s Tourist in Paradise, the group was contracted to the GRP label. 1990’s Welcome to the St. James Club and 1991’s Curves Ahead both topped the contemporary jazz best-seller charts, and 1992’s Weekend in Monaco was also a popular release.

By 1993, the Rippingtons had solidified into a steady six-piece group including Freeman, Dave Kochanski on keyboards, Jeff Kashiwa on saxophone, Kim Stone on bass, Tony Morales on drums, and Steve Reid on percussion. That year saw the release of Live in L.A. In 1994, Freeman teamed with old partner David Benoit for The Benoit/Freeman Project and later in the year came Sahara, which altered the band’s billing from “The Rippingtons Featuring Russ Freeman” to “Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons.” In 1995, Freeman released a solo Christmas album, Holiday, followed by the eighth Rippingtons album, Brave New World, in 1995. Cooperation with the guitarist Craig Chaquico comes at 1998, for the album From The Redwoods To The Rockies.

His current wife, Yaredt Leon, has also composed some of the music on The Rippingtons albums. As of 2005, Freeman lives in Boca Raton, Florida. Freeman was previously married to Rona Freeman.

Discography

• Nocturnal Playground (Brainchild, 1985)
• Sahara (GRP, 1994)
• The Benoit/Freeman Project (with David Benoit) (GRP, 1994)
• Brave New World (GRP, 1995)
• Holiday (GRP, 1995)
• From the Redwoods to the Rockies (with Craig Chaquico) (Windham Hill, 1998)
• Drive (Peak, 2002)
• The Benoit/Freeman Project 2 (2004)
• Côte d’Azur (Concord Jazz/Peak, 2011)
• Fountain of Youth (Entertainment One, 2014)

• “Russ Freeman | Album Discography | AllMusic”. AllMusic. Retrieved 30 October 2016. 

Awards

• University School of Nashville, Tennessee, Distinguished Alumni Award for 1995

• University School of Nashville (1995), Roster of Distinguished Alumni (w), retrieved 2009-01-30