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Dave Grusin
Grusin in 2008
Born	Robert David Grusin (1934-06-26) June 26, 1934 (age 90) Littleton, Colorado, U.S.
Relatives	Don Grusin
Musical career
Genres	Jazz jazz fusion contemporary jazz
Occupations	Musician composer producer
Instruments	Piano keyboards
Years active	1962–present
Labels	GRP
Musical artist

Robert David Grusin (born June 26, 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy Award and 10 Grammy Awards. Grusin was also a frequent collaborator with director Sydney Pollack, scoring many of his films like Three Days of the Condor (1975), Absence of Malice (1981), Tootsie (1982), The Firm (1993), and Random Hearts (1999). In 1978, Grusin founded GRP Records with Larry Rosen, and was an early pioneer of digital recording.

Early life

Grusin was born in Littleton, Colorado, to Henri and Rosabelle (née de Poyster) Grusin. His family originates from the Gruzinsky princely line of the Bagrationi dynasty, the royal family that ruled the Kingdom of Georgia in the ninth to 19th centuries. In Slavic languages, "Grusin" is an ethnonym for Georgians. Grusin’s father, Henri, was a violinist of Jewish ancestry who was born and raised in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, from where he emigrated to the United States in 1913. Grusin's mother, Rosabelle, was a pianist. He is the older brother of fellow jazz keyboardist, composer, and producer Don Grusin.

Grusin studied music at the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated in 1956. His teachers included Cecil Effinger; and Wayne Scott, a pianist, arranger, and professor of jazz.

Career

Grusin produced his first single in 1962, "Subways Are for Sleeping", and his first film score, for Divorce American Style, in 1967. Other scores followed, including The Graduate (1967), Winning (1969), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), The Midnight Man (1974), and Three Days of the Condor (1975).

In 1978, Grusin founded GRP Records with his business partner Larry Rosen, and began producing some of the first commercial digital recordings. Grusin was the composer for On Golden Pond (1981), Tootsie (1982), and The Goonies (1985). In 1988, he won the Oscar for Best Original Score for The Milagro Beanfield War. Grusin composed the musical signatures for the 1984 TriStar Pictures logo (which was credited at the end of Look Who's Talking Too) and the 1993 Columbia Pictures Television logo.

In 1998, Grusin ranked #5 and #8 on Billboard's Top 10 Jazz Artists, at mid-year and at year's end, respectively, based on sales of his album "Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story."

From 2000–11, Grusin concentrated on classical and jazz compositions, touring and recording with collaborators including jazz singer and lyricist Lorraine Feather and guitarist Lee Ritenour. Their album Harlequin won a Grammy Award in 1985. Their classical crossover albums, Two Worlds and Amparo, were nominated for Grammys.

Grusin has a filmography of about 100 titles. His many awards include an Oscar for best original score for The Milagro Beanfield War, as well as Oscar nominations for The Champ, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Firm, Havana, Heaven Can Wait, and On Golden Pond. Grusin received a Best Original Song nomination for "It Might Be You" from the film Tootsie. Six of the 14 cuts on the soundtrack from The Graduate are his. Other film scores Grusin has composed include Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?, Three Days of the Condor, The Goonies, Tequila Sunrise, Hope Floats, Random Hearts, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Mulholland Falls, and The Firm. He composed the original opening fanfare for film studio TriStar Pictures.

Grusin composed theme music for the TV programs Good Morning World (American TV series) (1967), It Takes a Thief (1968), The Name of the Game (1968), Dan August (1970), The Sandy Duncan Show (1971–72), Maude (1972), Good Times (1974), Baretta (1975), St. Elsewhere (1982), and, for Televisa in Mexico, Tres Generaciones (1987). He composed music for individual episodes of each of those shows. Grusin's other TV credits include The Wild Wild West (1966), The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966), and Columbo: Prescription: Murder (1968). He composed and performed the 1984-1991 theme music for One Life to Live (1968). Grusin wrote the music for the This Is America, Charlie Brown episode "The Smithsonian and the Presidency", and two of the cues from the episode "History Lesson" and "Breadline Blues" (the latter covered by Kenny G) appear on the tribute album Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown. "History Lesson" also appears in the Amiga CDTV version of Snoopy: The Cool Computer Game.

In 1994, GRP was in charge of MCA's jazz operations. Founders Grusin and Rosen left in the following year and were replaced by Tommy LiPuma. In 1997, Grusin and Rosen founded N2K Encoded Music, which was renamed N-Coded Music.

Grusin received honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music in 1988 and University of Colorado, College of Music in 1989. He was initiated into the Beta Chi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at the University of Colorado in 1991.

Personal life

Grusin has been married to Nan Newton for many years and they have three adult sons: Scott, Michael, and Stuart. He is also the stepfather of Nan's adult daughter, Annie Vought. Grusin is the subject of a 2018 feature-length documentary, “Dave Grusin: Not Enough Time.”

Awards and honors

Over a 15-year period from 1979–1994, Grusin won an Academy Award, and received seven more nominations. He has been nominated for 38 Grammy Awards and won 10.

Academy Awards

• Winner, Music (Original Score): The Milagro Beanfield War (1989)
• Nomination, Music (Original Score): Heaven Can Wait (1979), The Champ (1980), On Golden Pond (1982), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1990), Havana (1991), The Firm (1994)
• Nomination, Music (Original Song): "It Might Be You" (1983), with Alan and Marilyn Bergman

Grammy Awards

• Winner, Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special: The Graduate (1968), shared with Paul Simon.
• Winner, Best Arrangement on an Instrumental: Summer Sketches '82 (1982), "Early A.M. Attitude" (1986), "Suite" for The Milagro Beanfield War (1990), "Bess You Is My Woman/I Loves You Porgy" (1991), "Mood Indigo" (1993), "Three Cowboy Songs" (1994)
• Winner, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals: "My Funny Valentine" by Michelle Pfeiffer (1989), "Mean Old Man" by James Taylor (2002)
• Winner, Best Album Original Score Written for Motion Picture or Television: The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)
• Nomination, Best Original Score: Selena

Golden Globe Awards

• Nomination, Best Original Score: The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Havana (1990), For the Boys (1991)

Other

• Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, 1991
• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores (Best American Film Scores of all Time voted by the American Film Institute): #24 for On Golden Pond

Discography

As leader

As sideman

Filmography

See also

• List of music arrangers
• List of jazz arrangers

Notes

1. Some sources give Grusin's date of birth as June 24, although most agree on June 26.
2. Dates given are those of the relevant Awards ceremony, not when the films were released.

References

1. ^ Blim, Dan (2014) . "Grusin, Dave". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2262383. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
2. Bordowitz, Hank (2001). "Grusin, Dave". In Slonimsky, Nicolas & Kuhn, Laura (eds.). Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Vol. 2 (Centennial ed.). New York: Shirmer Books. pp. 1383–1384. ISBN 0028655273. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
3. ^ Adams, Michael (2009). "Grusin, Dave". In Cramer, Andrew W. (ed.). Musicians & Composers of the 20th Century. Vol. 2. Pasadena: Salem Press. pp. 543–546. ISBN 9781587655142. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
4. ^ "Dave Grusin". Grammy Awards. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
5. "It's A Small World After All". georgianjournal.ge. March 15, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
6. Lees, Gene. "The Jewish Contribution" (PDF). World Radio History. Retrieved September 26, 2022. High Fidelity, vol. 27 (1977), n° 7, p. 27.
7. "Dave Grusin Page" (PDF). Soul Walking. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
8. "Dave Grusin Biography". Film Reference. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
9. ^ "The Dave Grusin manuscripts An inventory of holdings at the American Music Research Center" (PDF). American Music Research Center. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
10. "Cecil Effinger Interview with Bruce Duffie". Bruce Duffie. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
11. "Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen. Behind the scenes, they're ahead of their times" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 91, no. 42. New York. October 20, 1979. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
12. "Year-to-Date Jazz Charts" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 26. New York. June 27, 1998. p. 44. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
13. "The Year in Music 1998 – Top Jazz Artists / Top Jazz Albums" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 52. New York. p. YE79. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
14. Kaufman, Joanne (March 2, 2018). "When Your Home Has a History". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
15. Daniels, Melissa (June 20, 2008). "Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin to Return with 'Amparo'". JazzTimes. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
16. Soergel, Brian (October 1, 2008). "Lee Ritenour & Dave Grusin: Amparo". JazzTimes. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
17. On Golden Pond (Main Theme) Sheet Music. Hal Leonard Corporation. October 1986. ISBN 978-1-4950-4316-1.
18. "Tri-Star Logo Theme by Dave Grusin - Most Popular Songs". Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
19. "One Life To Live". Daytime Soap Opera Theme Songs and Main Titles. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
20. "Charles E. Lutton Man of Music". Retrieved April 22, 2019.
21. Bentree, Barbara (Director). "Dave Grusin: Not Enough Time". jindojazz. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
22. Burlingame, Dave (November 6, 2020). "At 86, Oscar-Winning Composer Dave Grusin Is Ready to Tour Again When the COVID-19 Pandemic Subsides". Variety. Los Angeles: Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
23. Kinn, Gail & Piazza, Jim (2014). The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History (Revised ed.). New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 9781579129866 – via Internet Archive.
24. "The 61st Academy Awards, 1989". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
25. "The 51st Academy Awards, 1979". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
26. "The 52nd Academy Awards, 1980". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
27. "The 54th Academy Awards, 1982". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
28. "The 62nd Academy Awards, 1990". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
29. "The 63rd Academy Awards, 1991". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 4, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
30. "The 66th Academy Awards, 1994". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 4, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
31. "The 55th Academy Awards, 1983". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
32. O'Neil, Thomas (1999). The Grammys: The Ultimate, Unofficial Guide to Music's Highest Honor (Revised ed.). New York: Perigree. p. 146. ISBN 0399524770. Retrieved December 18, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
33. McPhate, Tim (May 15, 2017). "'Mrs. Robinson,' 'The Graduate' Soundtrack: 3 GRAMMY facts". Grammy Awards. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
34. "The Key is Versatility" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 74, no. 48. New York. December 1, 1962. p. 47. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
35. "Dave Grusin Work Chronology".
36. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 130. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
37. "Dave Grusin | Album Discography | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
38. "Dave Grusin | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2019.

External links

• Dave Grusin at IMDb
• Music video sampler: Mountain Dance on YouTube
• Dave Grusin on Sound of Cinema, interviewed by Matthew Sweet. BBC Radio, 21 November 2020
• Performances of Dave Grusin's piano music

• 1934 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American composers
• 20th-century American conductors (music)
• 20th-century American Jews
• 20th-century American male musicians
• 20th-century American pianists
• 21st-century American composers
• 21st-century American conductors (music)
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American male musicians
• 21st-century American pianists
• American film score composers
• American jazz pianists
• American male conductors (music)
• American male film score composers
• American male jazz pianists
• American male songwriters
• American male television composers
• American music arrangers
• American people of Latvian descent
• American television composers
• Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners
• Epic Records artists
• Grammy Award winners
• GRP All-Star Big Band members
• GRP Records artists
• Jazz musicians from Colorado
• Jewish American film score composers
• American jazz composers
• Jewish American composers
• Jewish jazz musicians
• Jewish American television composers
• People from Littleton, Colorado
• Smooth jazz pianists
• Songwriters from Colorado
• University of Colorado Boulder alumni