Jean

Music: Eddie Russ, Lyrics: Janice Jarrett

Eddie didn’t tell me much about the song’s inspiration but I got the idea of her being someone hard to forget. Like many love songs, they can be suggestive but still be relatable to one’s own experience. Of the 13 of my collaborations with Eddie, there is a range of styles: “funk” tunes, sambas, jazz waltzes, and ballads. His easy and natural mix of soul, jazz, and funk was in the era of Bob James and Deodato that preceded Smooth Jazz. I remember hearing Eddie play and watching how the crowd in the club began to settle in and relax. I felt he emanated magic through his gentle, subtle but precise playing. On her CD, “unfolding The Peacocks,” Jeri Brown sings an extended freestyle and sensitive rendition of “Jean.” The clip below is taken from her rubato intro. She also recorded another one of ours, “Zaius,” on her CD of the same name.