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Don Grusin | |
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 Photo by Ryan San | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Donald Henri Grusin |
| Born | April 22, 1941 Littleton, Colorado, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, Latin jazz, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Labels | JVC, GRP |
| Website | www |
Donald Henri Grusin (born April 22, 1941) is an American jazz keyboardist, composer, and record producer. He is the younger brother of Dave Grusin.
Don Grusin grew up in Littleton, Colorado. His father, a native of Latvia, was a classical violinist. His brother, Dave Grusin, is a pianist, record producer, and co-founder of GRP Records.
Grusin graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in economics. In the early 1970s, he was an economics professor in Guadalajara, Mexico. Soon after, he taught economics at Foothill College in California. [1]
Grusin performed in Bogota, Colombia, as a member of Azteca, a Latin jazz fusion band led by Pete Escovedo that included Escovedo's daughter, drummer Sheila E. The trip sparked a lifelong interest in Latin music. In 1975, Quincy Jones invited him to tour with his band, and Grusin was persuaded to leave teaching for a career in music. He worked as a studio musician on albums by Randy Crawford, Billy Eckstine, Joe Pass, and the Pointer Sisters. He formed the fusion group Friendship with Lee Ritenour, Ernie Watts, and Alex Acuña and recorded one album, then released solo albums in 1981 and 1983. In 1985, he produced the album Musician for Ernie Watts, and it won a Grammy Award. Grusin's live album The Hang (Sovereign Artists, 2004) received a Grammy Award nomination, and he won Grammy Awards for his work on two albums by the Paul Winter Consort. [1] He won an Echo Award for the album Quality Time, recorded with Peter Fessler. [2]
As a record producer or keyboardist, Grusin has worked with Gerald Albright, Patti Austin, David Benoit, Larry Carlton, Oscar Castro-Neves, Dori Caymmi, Gilberto Gil, Jim Hall, Sérgio Mendes, Airto Moreira, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim, Nelson Rangell, Brenda Russell, Zoot Sims, Leon Ware, and Sadao Watanabe. [1]
With Ernie Watts
With Oscar Castro-Neves
With Dori Caymmi
With Ricardo Silveira
With Sadao Watanabe
With Eric Marienthal
With Tom Browne
With Lorraine Feather
With Shakatak
With others
Ernest James Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album The Grand Wazoo he played the "Mystery Horn", a straight-necked C melody saxophone. He played the notable saxophone riff on "The One You Love" by Glenn Frey.
GRP® Records is a jazz record label founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen in 1978. Distributed by Verve Records, GRP® was originally known for its digital recordings that focuses on its jazz genre.
Jimmy Johnson is an American bass guitarist best known for his work with James Taylor, Allan Holdsworth, and Flim & the BB's. Raised in a rich musical environment, his father was a 47-year member of the Minnesota Orchestra's bass section, his mother a piano teacher and accompanist, and his brother Gordon is also a professional bassist.
Anthony Jackson is an American bassist. Described as "one of the masters of the instrument", he has performed as a session musician and live artist. He is also credited with the development of the modern six-string bass, which he refers to as a contrabass guitar.
Alejandro Neciosup Acuña, known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian–American jazz drummer and percussionist.
Abraham Laboriel López Sr. is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and of producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo Laboriel.
Eric Gale was an American jazz and R&B guitarist.
Philip Eugene Perry is an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician and a former member of the soul group, The Montclairs, from 1971 to 1975. He was also known for performing the opening song to Disney’s sitcom, Goof Troop.
Oscar Castro-Neves, was a Brazilian guitarist, arranger, and composer who is considered a founding figure in bossa nova.
Havana is an album by American pianist Dave Grusin released in 1990, recorded for the GRP label. This album is a soundtrack to the film Havana, directed by Sidney Pollack.
The GRP All-Star Big Band was a contemporary big band assembled in the late 1980s by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, the founders of GRP Records. The band played new arrangements of popular jazz pieces from the 1950s and 1960s.
Dorival "Dori" Tostes Caymmi is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, guitarist, arranger, and producer.
Rio is an album by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour recorded in New York City, Santa Barbara, and Rio de Janeiro, originally titled Lee Ritenour In Rio. It was released in 1979 in Japan on JVC Records, then in 1982 in the U.S. on Elektra/Musician Records, then on GRP in 1985 with a different album cover and track sequence.
Earth Run is the fifteenth studio album by jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour, released in April 1986 through GRP Records. The album reached number ten on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart in the United States and received a Grammy Award nomination for Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental. The title track was also nominated for Best Instrumental Composition.
Harlequin is a collaborative studio album by American pianist Dave Grusin and American guitarist Lee Ritenour, released in 1985 through GRP Records. The album reached No. 2 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart, and earned a 1986 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement on an Instrumental for "Early A.M. Attitude". Harlequin also earned Grammy nominations for Best Engineered Recording, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals, and Best Pop Instrumental Performance. In 1988, Perri sisters sampled Grusin’s “The Bird” into their track called “The Flight”, from their album “The Flight” under Zebra Records, that song was produced by Michael J. Powell.
Sticks and Stones is an album by American pianist Dave Grusin with his brother Don Grusin. It was released in 1988, recorded for the GRP label. The album reached No. 14 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart.
Dave Grusin and the NY-LA Dream Band is an album by American pianist Dave Grusin released in 1984, recorded for the GRP label. The album was recorded live in Tokyo, Japan, at Budokan. The album reached No. 4 on Billboard's Jazz chart.
The Fabulous Baker Boys is an album by American pianist Dave Grusin released in 1989, recorded for the GRP label. This album is the soundtrack to the motion picture The Fabulous Baker Boys directed by Steve Kloves. The album reached No. 3 on Billboard's Jazz chart.
Stolen Moments is an album by American guitarist Lee Ritenour released in 1990, recorded for the GRP label. The album reached #3 on Billboard's Jazz chart.
Timothy Gerard Landers is an American bassist best known for his contribution to the 1970s-80s jazz-fusion genre and his work with Al Di Meola, Billy Cobham, and Gil Evans. Landers is a session musician and was a member of Tom Scott's band on The Pat Sajak Show.
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