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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZGRUSIN, Dave(b 26 June 1934, Littleton CO) Piano, composer, producer, label boss. Studied at U. of Colorado, became pianist and musical director for Andy Williams '59-66; composed an astonishing 58 scores for TV and (mostly) cinema films '67-90, winning an Oscar for The Milagro Beanfield War '88 and nom. for Heaven Can Wait '78, The Champ '79, On Golden Pond '81 and The Fabulous Baker Boys '89. He has recorded with Benny Goodman, Thad Jones, Frank Foster and others in styles ranging from mainstream to hard bop. Obviously prolific and an excellent musician, he has many fans for his 17 or so albums of 'light fusion' (or 'jazz lite') on GRP: Grusin-Rosen Productions was formed with drummer Larry Rosen (d 9 October 2015, Park Ridge NJ, aged 75), many featuring brother Don Grusin (also a keyboardist), who has albums of his own on GRP and JVC. Ten albums had charted '80-91, two of them soundtracks and one by the GRP All-Stars big band, but all of the albums will be profitable, because musicians like David Sanborn, Branford Marsalis, Marcus Miller, Lee Ritenour and the rest don't need several months of studio time to make an album, certainly not when produced by a Grusin. GRP is closely linked with MCA, and was involved in one of the most valuable and sustained reissue programmes of US Decca's vault material so far: the complete Billie Holiday, Count Basie and much else in excellent CD transfers, marketed on GRP in the UK because MCA doesn't own the Decca name outside the USA. |