Dave Grusin - Writer

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Composer. Nationality: American. Born: Littleton, Colorado, 26 June 1934; son of Henri (a violinist) and Rosabelle (a pianist) Grusin. Education: University of Colorado, B. Music (piano), 1956; graduate study at Manhattan School of Music, 1959–60. Military Service: U.S. Navy, involved with air operations, 1956–58. Career: Pianist, keyboardist, composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer. Worked and performed with Quincy Jones, beginning in early 1960s;

worked and performed with numerous artists, including Mel Torme, Peggy Lee, Ruth Price, Sergio Mendes, Tom Scott, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Ritenour, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Jon Lucien, Roberta Flack, and Aretha Franklin; released over thirty albums, beginning with Subways Are for Sleeping (Epic, 1960); composer for over a dozen television series, including The Virginian (1962), Gidget (1965), The Wild, Wild West (1965), Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The (1966), It Takes a Thief (1968), Maude (1972), Good Times (1974), Baretta (1975), and St. Elsewhere (1982); conductor, The Andy Williams Show , 1963–1964; record producer, with Larry Rosen, beginning in 1976; owner, with Rosen, of GRP Records, Inc., 1983—; affiliated with N.Y./L.A. Dream Band, a septet of jazz-fusion artists; principal with N2K Inc. (record label), New York City. Awards: Grammy Award (with Paul Simon), Best Album or Original Instrumental Score for a Motion Picture or Television Special, for The Graduate , 1968; Academy Award, Best Original Score, for The Milagro Beanfield War , 1988; Grammy Award, Best Arrangement on an Instrumental, for "Suite from The Milagro Beanfield War " from Migration (album), 1989; Grammy Awards, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals, for "My Funny Valentine" from The Fabulous Baker Boys Motion Picture Soundtrack (album) and Best Album of Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television, for The Fabulous Baker Boys Motion Picture Soundtrack , 1989; Hollywood Discovery Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music in Film, Hollywood Film Festival, 1998; also winner of many other music awards, including several additional Grammy Awards, and recipient of honorary doctorates from University of California, Berkeley, 1988, and University of Colorado, 1989. Office: GRP Records, Inc., 555 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019. Agent: Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency, 3301 Barham Blvd., Suite 201, Los Angeles, CA 90068–1477, U.S.A.

Films as Composer:

1967

Waterhole #3 ; Divorce American Style ; The Graduate (additional music); The Scorpio Letters (for TV)

1968

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter ; Candy ; Prescription: Murder ( Columbo: Prescription Murder ) (for TV); Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?

1969

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here ; The Mad Room ; Generation ( A Time for Caring ; A Man Called Gannon ; Winning

1970

Double Jeopardy (for TV) (theme); Halls of Anger ; Adam at 6 A.M. ; The Intruders (for TV)

1971

Deadly Dream (for TV); A Howling in the Woods (for TV); The Forgotten Man (for TV); The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight ; Sarge ( The Badge or the Cross ) (for TV); The Pursuit of Happiness ; Shootout

1972

Fuzz ; The Family Rico (for TV); The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid

1973

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

1974

The Midnight Man ; The Nickel Ride ; The Death Squad (for TV)

1975

The Trial of Chaplain Jensen (for TV); W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings ; The Yakuza ( Brotherhood of the Yakuza ; Three Days of the Condor ; Eric (for TV)

1976

Murder by Death ; The Front

1977

The Goodbye Girl ; Bobby Deerfield ; Fire Sale ; Mr. Billion ( The Windfall )

1978

Heaven Can Wait

1979

The Champ ; The Electric Horseman ; . . . And Justice for All

1980

My Bodyguard

1981

Absence of Malice ; On Golden Pond

1982

Tootsie ; Author! Author!

1984

Falling in Love ; Scandalous ; The Little Drummer Girl ; Racing with the Moon ; The Pope of Greenwich Village

1985

The Goonies

1986

Lucas

1987

Ishtar

1988

The Milagro Beanfield War ; Tequila Sunrise ; Clara's Heart ; This is America, Charlie Brown (for TV)

1989

The Fabulous Baker Boys ; A Dry White Season

1990

Havana ; The Bonfire of the Vanities

1991

For the Boys

1993

The Firm

1995

The Cure

1996

Mulholland Falls

1997

In the Gloaming (for TV); Hope (for TV) (theme); Selena

1998

Hope Floats

1999

Random Hearts

Other Films:

1978

The Wiz (musician)

1984

Falling in Love (orchestrator)

1989

The Fabulous Baker Boys (musician)

1993

The Firm (performer)

Publications

By GRUSIN: articles—

Yagiyu, S., "A Conversation with Dave Grusin," interview in Soundtrack (Stanford, California), vol. 7, no. 27, September 1988.

On GRUSIN: articles—

Lander, David, "Grusin and Rosen of GRP, the Musician's Label," in Audio (Philadelphia), March 1988.

Yanow, Scott, "Dave Grusin: Scoring It Big," in Down Beat (Chicago), July 1989.

Pulliam, Becca, "Maintaining Standards," in Down Beat (Chicago), May 1992.

Tiegel, Eliot, "Scoring in Hollywood," in Down Beat (Chicago), October 1993.

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Academy Award winner Dave Grusin has combined classical music training, jazz virtuosity, and a popular culture sensibility to become one of the most prolific composers of the late twentieth century. Educated at the University of Colorado, Grusin was a classical piano major who developed an affinity for jazz, and played with such visiting artists as Art Pepper and singer Anita O'Day.

After moving to New York to pursue an academic career, Grusin found a job touring behind Andy Williams as a pianist and arranger. When he was asked to be Williams' musical director, Grusin moved to Hollywood to work on The Andy Williams Show. In 1964, Grusin left the popular program to score his first film, Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin's Divorce American Style . In 1967, Grusin was brought in to compose additional music for a film that became a hallmark of the 1960s, both musically and cinematically, The Graduate .

Grusin quickly rose to the ranks of one of Hollywood's premier and most prolific composers. By the time he received his first Oscar nomination in 1978 for Heaven Can Wait , he had worked on thirty films. The best of those were the result of his collaboration with Robert Redford, including Tell Them Willie Boy is Here (1969) and Three Days of the Condor (1975). In the latter, Grusin's jazz style shone through on the strength of Tom Scott's brilliant tenor saxophone. One of Grusin's personal favorites from this period was The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), which featured an unforgettable love theme.

Grusin followed his 1978 Oscar nomination with another in 1979 for the tearjerker The Champ . During the 1980s, Grusin entered his most prolific period. He was nominated for three more Academy Awards for his scores for On Golden Pond (1981), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), and The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), for which he won the Oscar. Grusin was also nominated for Best Original Song for "It Might Be You" from Tootsie (1982). Other notable scores from this period include The Goodbye Girl (1977), Bobby Deerfield (1977), Reds (1981), and Racing with the Moon (1984). Grusin also continued his fruitful association with Redford, scoring most of the popular director's films.

The diversity of these films is mirrored by the wide range of Grusin's musical styles, tastes, and influences. In the jazzy score to The Fabulous Baker Boys , Grusin successfully mirrors the feel of the sexy standards performed by Michele Pfeiffer, while in The Milagro Beanfield War , Grusin's minimal use of music is offset by his lushly evocative themes conducted by John Scott with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Grusin's work from this period is also familiar to television audiences—he wrote the memorable theme songs for Good Times , Maude , Baretta , and St. Elsewhere .

During the 1990s, Grusin was nominated for two more Academy Awards for his scores for Havana and The Firm . And though his prolific output fell off somewhat, he continued to work on at least one film project a year throughout the decade.

Despite his cinematic successes, Grusin has remained true to his jazz roots. Highly respected in the jazz community, Grusin's successful recording and performing career has spanned three decades. He has won ten Grammy Awards, and collaborated with most of the world's major jazz talents.

Undoubtedly Grusin's strength as a film composer is his belief that he is at heart a great accompanist. He thinks of himself as writing music to accompany the visual and dramatic action of a movie. His scores can be broken down into two major styles: those influenced by jazz and the more intimate and sensitive orchestral scores redolent with strings. In both styles, Grusin never loses his gift for melody.

Though the Oscar and Grammy winner is certainly one of the most prolific and successful composers of the late twentieth century, it is his status as one of music's true Renaissance men that makes him unique among film composers, bringing with it the promise that each of his scores will take audiences into new areas of musical exploration.

—Victoria Price