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 Robert David Grusin was born on June 26, 1934, 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. High Fidelity, vol. 27 (1977), n° 7, p. 27. 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 jazz pianist, arranger, and professor.
Career Grusin produced his first single in 1962, "Subways Are for Sleeping", and his first film score, for Divorce American Style, five years later. Other scores followed, including The Graduate (1967), A Man Called Gannon (1969) (he also sang the opening theme song, A Smile, a Mem'ry and an Extra Shirt), 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 Billboards 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 to 2011, 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 (1967), It Takes a Thief (1968), The Name of the Game (1968), The Bold Ones (1969), Dan August (1970), The Sandy Duncan Show (1971–72), Maude (1972), Assignment Vienna, 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 the following year. 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, and they have three 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 to 1994, Grusin won an Academy Award, and received seven more nominations. He has been nominated for 38 Grammy Awards and won 10.
Academy Awards Dates given are those of the relevant Awards ceremony, not when the films were released. 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
Subways Are for Sleeping (Epic, 1962) Piano, Strings, and Moonlight (Epic, 1962) Kaleidoscope (Columbia, 1964) Divorce American Style (United Artists, 1967) – soundtrack The Graduate (Columbia, 1968) – soundtrack recorded in 1967 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Film Score Monthly, 1968) - soundtrack The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (1968 - 1970) – TV series The Name of the Game (1968 - 1971) – TV series theme Candy (Epic, 1969) – soundtrack Three Days of the Condor (DRG/EMI, 1975) – soundtrack Discovered Again! (Sheffield Lab, 1976) Don't Touch (Versatile, 1977) One of a Kind (GRP, 1977) Heaven Can Wait (Kritzerland, 1978) - soundtrack The Champ (Varèse Sarabande, 1979) – soundtrack Mountain Dance (GRP, 1979) - AUS #100 The Electric Horseman (Varèse Sarabande, 1979) – soundtrack Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Stars Live in Japan (JVC, 1980) On Golden Pond (Varèse Sarabande, 1981) - soundtrack Out of the Shadows (Arista-GRP, 1982) Tootsie (Film Score Monthly, 1982) - soundtrack Night-Lines (GRP, 1983) Dave Grusin and the NY-LA Dream Band (GRP, 1984) Racing with the Moon (Kritzerland, 1984) - soundtrack The Pope of Greenwich Village (Quartet Records, 1984) - soundtrack Harlequin (with Lee Ritenour) (GRP, 1985) The Goonies (Varèse Sarabande, 1985) - soundtrack Lucas (Varèse Sarabande, 1986) Cinemagic (GRP, 1987) GRP Live in Session (GRP, 1988)
Sticks and Stones (with Don Grusin) (GRP, 1988) Migration (GRP, 1989) The Fabulous Baker Boys (GRP, 1989) - soundtrack A Dry White Season (Kritzerland, 1989) - soundtrack The Bonfire of the Vanities (Atlantic, 1990) - soundtrack Havana (GRP, 1990) - soundtrack The Gershwin Connection (GRP, 1991) GRP Super Live in Concert (GRP, 1992) Homage to Duke (GRP <GRD-9715>, 1993) The Firm (MCA-GRP <MGD-2007>, 1993) - soundtrack Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Star Big Band Live! (GRP 97402, 1993) The Orchestral Album (GRP, 1994) The Cure (GRP, 1995) - soundtrack Two for the Road (GRP, 1996) Mulholland Falls (Cinerama, 1996) - soundtrack Selena (Angel, 1997) - soundtrack West Side Story (N-Coded, 1997) Hope Floats (RCA Victor, 1998) - soundtrack Random Hearts (Sony, 1999) Two Worlds (with Lee Ritenour) (Decca, 2000) Dinner with Friends (Jellybean, 2001) - soundtrack Portrait of Bill Evans (JVC, 2002) [2 tracks] Now Playing (GRP, 2004) Amparo (with Lee Ritenour) (Decca, 2008) The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (Varèse Sarabande, 2008) - soundtrack An Evening with Dave Grusin (Heads Up, 2010) One Night Only! (C.A.R.E./Intergroove, 2011) Brasil (Candid, 2024)
As sideman
With Patti Austin Havana Candy (CTI, 1977) Love Is Gonna Getcha (GRP, 1990) – rec. 1989
With the Brothers Johnson Look Out for#1 (A&M, 1976) Right on Time (A&M, 1977)
With Tom Browne Browne Sugar (GRP, 1979) Love Approach (GRP, 1980) – rec. 1979-80 Magic (Arista, 1981)
With Don Grusin 10k-LA (JVC, 1981) Native Land (GRP, 1993) The Hang (Sovereign, 2004)
With Quincy Jones You've Got It Bad Girl (A&M, 1973) Body Heat (A&M, 1974) Mellow Madness (A&M, 1975) I Heard That!! (A&M, 1976) Roots (A&M, 1977)
With John Klemmer Touch (ABC, 1975) Barefoot Ballet (ABC, 1976)
With Earl Klugh Earl Klugh (Blue Note, 1976) Living Inside Your Love (Blue Note, 1976) Finger Paintings (Blue Note, 1977)
With Jon Lucien Rashida (RCA, 1973) Mind's Eye (RCA, 1974) Song for My Lady (Columbia, 1975)
With Harvey Mason Marching in the Street (Arista, 1976) Funk in a Mason Jar (Arista, 1977) With All My Heart (Bluebird, 2004)
With Carmen McRae I Am Music (Blue Note, 1975) Can't Hide Love (Blue Note, 1976)
With Sergio Mendes Homecooking (Elektra, 1976) Sergio Mendes & the New Brasil '77 (Elektra, 1977)
With Gerry Mulligan Little Big Horn (GRP, 1983) Dragonfly (Telarc Jazz, 1995)
With Lee Ritenour First Course (Epic, 1976) Gentle Thoughts(JVC 1977) Captain Fingers (Epic, 1977) Friendship (Jasrac, 1978) The Captain's Journey (Elektra, 1978) Rio (JVC, 1979) Feel the Night (Discovery, 1979) On the Line (GRP, 1983) "Harlequin" (GRP, 1985) Earth Run (GRP, 1986) Festival (GRP, 1988) World of Brazil (GRP, 2003) Overtime (Peak, 2005) Smoke 'N' Mirrors (Peak, 2006) Rhythm Sessions (Concord, 2012) A Twist of Rit (Concord, 2015)
With Diane Schuur Deedles (1985) Timeless (1986)
With James Taylor October Road (Columbia, 2002) A Christmas Album (Hallmark Cards, 2004) James Taylor at Christmas (Columbia, 2006)
With Dave Valentin Legends (Arista GRP, 1978) The Hawk (GRP, 1979) Flute Juice (GRP, 1983) Kalahari (GRP, 1984)
With Sarah Vaughan A Time in My Life (Mainstream, 1972) Sarah Vaughan with Michel Legrand (Mainstream, 1972)
With Sadao Watanabe My Dear Life (Flying Disk, 1977) California Shower (Flying Disk, 1978) Morning Island (Flying Disk, 1979) How's Everything (Columbia, 1980)[2LP] – live Orange Express (CBS/Sony, 1981) Encore! (Victor, 2016)
With others