Jeff Russo (born August 31, 1969) is an American composer, songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and music producer, and one of the two founding members of the rock band Tonic. He is also a founding member of the Americana band Low Stars.
Russo is also known for his work as a composer on various films and television series, notably the Noah Hawley series Fargo, Legion and Alien: Earth (as well as his film Lucy in the Sky); the Star Trek series Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy; the American remake of Utopia; as well as Counterpart, Snowfall, and For All Mankind. He also scored the miniseries The Night Of, Brand New Cherry Flavor, and Ripley, and the acclaimed video game What Remains of Edith Finch. For his work on Fargo, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special in 2017.
Biography Russo began his music career as a rock musician, co-founding the band Tonic. In 2006 he was invited (by his friends, Wendy & Lisa) to assist in the studio while they worked on multiple film and TV projects, and he realized how much he enjoyed the process. He scores two Peabody Award nominated shows: CBS’s Star Trek: Discovery and FX’s Legion, starring Dan Stevens and Aubrey Plaza. He also scores on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy starring Elliot Page, Robert Sheehan and Mary J. Blige, which is based on the popular comic book series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba. He wrote for Noah Hawley’s feature directorial debut from Fox Searchlight, Lucy in the Sky, starring Natalie Portman and Jon Hamm, and Altered Carbon, an adaptation of Richard K. Morgan’s sci-fi novel. His film work includes scoring Mark Wahlberg’s action-thriller film Mile 22, Craig Macneill’s Lizzie, starring Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and Jon Avnet’s Three Christs, starring Richard Gere, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. His first connection with the Star Trek franchise was his contribution to Star Trek: Discovery.
Russo and his wife, musician Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt, have two children.
Albums
Tonic YearAlbum1996Lemon Parade1999Live and EnhancedSugar2002Head on Straight2009A Casual Affair: The Best of Tonic2010Tonic2016Lemon Parade Revisited
Guest appearance YearAlbum2016TAMA GIRARD "When I Think of You" (Single)
Low Stars YearAlbum2007Calling All Friends EPLow Stars
Solo YearAlbum2007-2008Make Me Feel Good About Me (unreleased)
Soundtracks Film Year Title Director(s) Notes 2004 Ghost Game Joe Knee 2010 Lesson PlanPhilip NeelDavid H. Jeffery 2012About CherryStephen ElliottWatercolor PostcardsRajeev Dassani 2013Free RideShana BetzBad BehaviourNicholas BrandtLisa Hamil2014The SurfaceGil Cates Jr. 2017Hondros Greg Campbell Documentary filmThree ChristsJon AvnetSubmissionRichard Levine 2018LizzieCraig William MacneillMile 22Peter Berg2019Lucy in the SkyNoah Hawley2020Lorelei Sabrina Doyle2022American Dreamer Paul Dektor 2023 What You Wish For Nicholas Tomnay Co-composed with Tracie Turnbull Canary Danny O'MalleyAlex Rivest Documentary filmCo-composed with Paul Doucette 2024 Rob Peace Chiwetel Ejiofor2025 The Last Rodeo Jon Avnet Looking Through Water Roberto Sneider
Television YearSeriesNotes2009The Unusuals2010My Generation2011-2013Necessary RoughnessScored 16 episodes2013-2014HostagesComposed with Ben Decter2014–presentFargo 2014–2020Power2015TutMiniseriesManhattanThe ReturnedWith Zoë Keating2016American GothicThe Night OfMiniseries2016–2021LuciferComposed with Ben DecterReplaced Marco Beltrami and Dennis Smith for Season 2 onwards2016-2018Channel Zero2017-2018Ghosted 2017-2019LegionCounterpart2017–2023Snowfall2017–2024Star Trek: DiscoveryOriginal Star Trek Theme by Alexander Courage2018–2020Altered CarbonStar Trek: Short TreksOriginal Star Trek Theme by Alexander CourageComposed the main theme, the score for the first season and the music for "Children of Mars" from the second season. The rest of the second season continued to use Russo's title theme. Still, the scores were otherwise composed by various composers, including Kris Bowers, Nami Melumad and others, with Michael Giacchino serving as supervising composer and writing the music for the short he directed.2018WacoMiniseries. Co-composed with Jordan GagneSanta Clarita DietComposed the 2nd and 3rd seasons. 1st season composed by John Debney2019–2024The Umbrella Academy 2019–presentFor All Mankind2019The ActThe InBetweenTreadstoneOriginal Bourne themes by John Powell. Co-composed with Jordan Gagne2020–2023Star Trek: PicardComposed the first two seasons. Arranged and conducted the title card music and served as supervisory composer for the third and final one, with the score being composed by Stephen Barton and Frederik Wiedmann2020Warrior NunCursedComposed themeBrave New WorldCo-composed with Jordan GagneUtopia 2020–2024 Power Book II: Ghost2021ClariceOsloTelevision film. Co-composed with Zoë KeatingBrand New Cherry FlavorMiniseries 2022Star Trek: Strange New WorldsComposed the main theme 2022–2025Bosch: Legacy2023 Love & Death Miniseries Mrs. Davis High Desert 2024 Ripley Miniseries 2025 Star Trek: Section 31 Television film Zero Day Miniseries Alien: Earth Ballard Untamed The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox Miniseries Hostage 2026 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Video games Year Title Studio Notes2017What Remains of Edith FinchGiant SparrowNominated — BAFTA Game Award for Best Music2018Madden NFL 18Electronic ArtsStory mode Longshot
References
External links Jeff Russo Web Site Jeff Russo myspace page