One of the most admired musicians on the theatre and cabaret circuit, Russell Churney was a hugely versatile and intelligent pianist who was best known for his collaboration with Dillie Keane and her fellow eccentrics in the satirical group, Fascinating Aïda.

Churney also enjoyed long and creative partnerships with the entertainer Julian Clary and Barb Jungr, the singer with whom he worked on such projects as Chanson: The Space in Between and Every Grain of Sand, an exceptionally thoughtful homage to Bob Dylan.

Of mixed Ukrainian and Welsh heritage, Churney was raised in Liverpool and educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, Crosby, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied law and also performed in the Footlights. He went on to spend seven years as accompanist with the ultra-camp Clary, touring regularly and adding a touch of gravitas to Clary’s tele-vision show, Sticky Moments. Clary playfully dubbed him “the straight I bait — the only known heterosexual in the world of showbiz today, apart from Judith Chalmers”.

Churney’s unassuming manner concealed an astute musical mind and a gift for low-key comic timing. His ability to memorise material at short notice also proved invaluable, and he struck up an instinctive partnership with Jungr, a performer who brought continental rigour to an art form often associated with kitsch.

Churney’s association with Fascinating Aïda grew out of his work on Keane’s solo shows. He eventually became the first male member of the long-run-ning group, enlisting in 2003 in time to appear on the album One Last Flutter. Churney’s quiet persona made a winning foil to the more manic forays of Keane and her colleagues. His other outings included working with Elizabeth Mansfield on Portraits in Song, a study of Edith Piaf and Bertolt Brecht. He also composed scores for films and documentaries including One Minute Past Midnight and The Alcohol Years.

One unorthodox project was Darkness and Disgrace, a daring reworking of the songs of the rock star David Bowie, written with the cabaret singer Des De Moor. Blending hits such as Heroes with lesser-known items from Bowie’s repertoire, the piano-and-vocals show stripped the numbers to essentials, giving some of them something of the flavour of music hall and highlighting Bowie’s South London roots in the process. The singer himself praised Churney and De Moor for their work.

Churney was a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe, which he once described as “three weeks of slightly deranged recreational excess”. By last summer’s Fringe he was increasingly dogged by symptoms of pancreatic cancer, which had been diagnosed in late 2005.

Churney leaves a partner, Erica.

Russell Churney, pianist and musical director, was born on September 10, 1964. He died on February 27, aged 42.