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Dave Grusin (b. 1934) – Biography and sheet music for piano.

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On Golden Pond – Dave Grusin (Easy Piano Solo arr. sheet music)

Dave Grusin – Ray’s Blues (from The Firm) sheet music Jazz arr.

Born June 26, 1934 in Littleton, CO; son of a classical pianist and a classical violinist. Education: Graduated from the University of Colorado; graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music. Addresses: Office – GRP Records, 555 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019.

Dave Grusin is a pianist, keyboardist, arranger, record producer and co-founder of GRP Records who likes the title ‘solo artist’ the least. Winner of a Grammy Award for best instrumental arrangement on the album Harlequin in 1985 and an Oscar for film music The Milagro Beanfield War in 1989, he told Scott Yanow in Down Beat:

‘I still don’t consider myself a performer’. . I don’t have a burning desire to go out and perform in front of people. I do it from time to time to try to get my records known, but basically I never felt like a performer. I much prefer the creative process in the studio, writing and recording.’

Dave Grusin was born June 26, 1934 in Littleton, Colorado to parents who were both classical musicians. “My father was a very good violinist and a perfect teacher,” Grusin told Yanow. “He didn’t impose music on us, but it was such an inherent part of our lives that it became a natural part of my childhood. My mother played the piano and I started when I was four, with the usual lessons. “

At home, Grusin’s musical training was in the classical genre, but the youngster was also exposed to jazz. Although he doesn’t remember any jazz records played at home, his parents took him to concerts in Denver, Colorado, where he saw artists such as Ray Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Hank Jones , Gene Krupa, Illinois Jacquet and Flip Phillips. ‘It was very exciting,’ Grusin recalls to Yanow, ‘and set the stage for me to be interested in jazz.’

Growing up in a farming community, where he worked on a ranch until high school, Grusin originally planned to be a veterinarian. “Three weeks before I started college,” he told Yanow, “I switched to music out of guilt for the immense effort and expense my father had put into my musical education. He didn’t force me to study music, but I knew he would approve of the change. Grusin majored in piano and minored in clarinet at the University of Colorado, where he also backed performers like Anita O’Day at local clubs when not in class.

In 1959, Grusin traveled to New York to begin graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music. Discovering that he had to wait six months before his union membership was transferred locally, Dave was forced to find a job out of town to support his young family. He tells Yanow: “An ex-roommate of mine found out that [singer] Andy Williams needed a piano player. Andy had had a few hit records, but he was still a new guy. The singer’s work involved many trips, so Grusin finally left graduate school.

The musician soon found himself in Los Angeles, where he was named musical director and arranger for Williams when the singer started a weekly television variety show.

Dave Grusin noted in Down Beat: “It was a great music show in the early 60s and we didn’t play any music that we would be ashamed of, even if it was on commercial television. It was drudgery, very hard work; but for me it turned out to be an amazing workshop. Also around this time, Grusin made a few recordings, including Subways Are for Sleeping, Piano, Strings and Moonlight and Kaleidoscope, which reflected the influence of Art Tatum and other jazz artists.

In 1964 Grusin left The Andy Williams Show to write music for motion pictures. He said in Down Beat: ‘Getting the first assignment is always the hardest because if you’ve never written before, nobody wants to talk about it’. I will always be grateful to [writer] Norman Lear and [director] Bud [Yorkin] for taking the chance and casting me for [the 1967 film] Divorce American Style. ‘

Throughout his career, Dave Grusin has written and arranged scores for over 50 films, including The Graduate, Heaven Can Wait, The Goodbye Girl, Reds, On Golden Pond, Tootsie and Tequila Sunrise, and television shows. such as Baretta and St. . Somewhere else. Nominated four times before, he won an Oscar in 1989 for the musical score he composed for the film The Milagro Beanfield War.

His main occupation – writing and arranging musical scores for films – did not deter Grusin from undertaking additional work in the field of music.

In 1976 he began producing records with partner Larry Rosen, whom he had met earlier when he hired Rosen as a drummer for Andy Williams’ band. The musicians started out as independent producers, but eventually formed their own record label, GRP Records, in 1983. Numerous hit albums by various jazz-influenced artists followed, and the producers received critical acclaim and many prizes.

In 1985 Grusin won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement of a Cut on the Harlequin album, and over the years GRP has received numerous Grammy Awards and nominations; the company has an artist roster that includes Lee Ritenour, Diane Schuur, Chick Corea, Eddie Daniels, Dave Valentin, and Kevin Eubanks.

‘We’re not an avant-garde or a big public label,’ Grusin explained to Yanow in Down Beat, ‘but we’re not interested in creating some kind of new age formula either. We’re comfortable with a type of jazz fusion that seems to be going somewhere and will continue to grow.

Critical reaction to GRP’s interpretations of contemporary jazz varies. A High Fidelity reviewer described the GRP recordings as “mostly lightweight”, focusing on a “softer, often electrified product”. Although Robin Tolleson called a Grusin number ‘ear candy’ in a Down Beat review, Stereo Review noted GRP Records’ ‘penchant for polished production’.

En 1986, Grusin a déménagé à Santa Fe, au Nouveau-Mexique, réalisant un désir de vivre près des montagnes Rocheuses. Il décide de faire un album en 1988 avec son frère, le claviériste Don Grusin, et les deux enregistrent le duo électronique Sticks and Stones.

In 1986, Grusin moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, fulfilling a desire to live near the Rocky Mountains. He decided to make an album in 1988 with his brother, keyboardist Don Grusin, and the two recorded the electronic duo Sticks and Stones.

Although his time is extremely limited, the multi-talented musician and businessman aspires to achieve an additional career goal: ‘One day I would like to write a serious piece of classical music,’ Grusin told Yanow in Down Beat. ‘I find it hard to do in a life full of missions, but eventually I want to compose non-jazz music in a contemporary vein.’

The career of Dave Grusin

Started as a pianist, became musical director and arranger for The Andy Williams Show, early 1960s; author and arranger of musical scores for numerous films, including Divorce American Style, 1967, The Goodbye Girl, 1977, Heaven Can Wait, 1978, Reds, 1981, On Golden Pond, 1981, Tootsie, 1982, The Milagro Beanfield War, 1989 , Tequila Sunrise, 1988, and For the Boys, 1991; and for TV shows, including St. Elsewhere and Baretta. Record producer, 1976–; co-founder of GRP Records, 1983.

Famous works

Selective Works
Subways Are for Sleeping Epic.
Piano, Strings, and Moonlight Epic.
Kaleidoscope Columbia.
Dave Grusin and the N.Y./L.A. Dream Band GRD.
Night-Lines GRD.
Mountain Dance GRD, 1979.
Out of the Shadows GRD.
One of a Kind GRD.
Cinemagic GRD.
The Dave Grusin Collection GRD.
The Gershwin Collection GRP Records, 1991.
With Lee Ritenour
Harlequin GRP Records, 1985 Festival GRP Records, 1989.
Rio Elektra/Musician.
On the Line Elektra/Musician.
Earth Run GRP Records.
With Quincy Jones
Body Heat A & M.
I Heard That! A & M.
With Earl Klugh
Earl Klugh Blue Note.
Living Inside Your Love Blue Note.
Other
(With Don Grusin) Sticks and Stones GRD, 1988.
(With GRP All-Stars) GRP Super Live in Concert GRD, 1988.
(With Eddie Daniels) Blackwood GRD.
(With Kevin Eubanks) Face to Face GRP Records.
(With Ray Brown) Brown's Bag GTI.
(With Art Farmer) Crawl Space CTI.
(With John Klemmer) Barefoot Ballet ABC.
(With Harvey Mason) Marching in the Street Arista.
(With Sergio Mendes) My Favorite Things Atlantic.
(With Gerry Mulligan) Little Big Horn GRP Records.
(With Grover Washington, Jr.) A Secret Place Kudu.

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