Jeff Russo

Jeff Russo, born August 31, 1969, is one of those names you see everywhere if you’re even half-tuned into TV and film. The guy’s basically got music running through his veins. I mean, if you’ve heard the eerie, tension-soaked sounds in “Fargo” (the TV show, not the Coen brothers’ classic), that’s his handiwork—he’s the guy twisting the musical knife while you’re biting your nails. And he’s not just stuck in the bleak Midwest, either. Russo’s the mastermind behind the score for “Ripley,” that new, shadowy take on Patricia Highsmith’s slippery antihero, and he’s also sprinkled his magic dust over “Lucy in the Sky,” the trippy Natalie Portman flick about an astronaut losing her grip on reality. But he’s not just a composer. Back in the ‘90s, Jeff was shredding the guitar in the band Tonic. Yeah, remember “If You Could Only See”? That was him, rocking out with longer hair and probably way too many flannels. Honestly, the dude bounces from rocking stages to conducting orchestras like it’s no big deal. Creativity just seems to spill out of him, whether he’s scoring a murder mystery or a space odyssey. So, every time you’re pulled into a scene by the music, there’s a decent chance Russo’s fingerprints are all over it—he’s become the go-to guy for TV’s wildest, weirdest, and most dramatic moments.