Russell Donald Freeman (May 28, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois – June 27, 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada) 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 & Shorty Rogers, and led to collaborations in the 1950s with Chet Baker (Chet Baker Sings) and Shelly Manne (Shelly Manne's "The Three" & "The Two").
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 (on The Misty Miss Christy). Freeman's piano is featured on Chet Baker's 1954 recording of "The Wind" (featured on Chet Baker with Strings) which has since become a jazz standard. 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.
Freeman was married three times, and he had one daughter, Paula Kenley Freeman, from his second marriage. He had no grandchildren. His daughter moved from Seattle to live in the Netherlands in 2009, and an interview about her relationship with her father appeared in the May 2009 issue of the European magazine, PianoWereld.