People We Love
DOUGLAS MERRIAM
Dave Grusin
D
ave Grusin was planning to attend Colorado A&M (now Colorado State University), thinking a career in veterinary medicine might be the way to go. “At the last minute my guilt caught up with me for all the effort and time my dad had spent on our music education, and I decided to go to music school,” says the Littleton, Colorado, native. A loss for Colorado’s animals was a win for the world’s music fans. Following a bachelor’s degree from University of Colorado and a draft notice and ensuing military service, Grusin enrolled in graduate school at the Manhattan School of Music. That didn’t last long, as crooner Andy Williams hired the young pianist for a tour and then for his television show. Working with Williams led Grusin to the rest of his life’s work as a composer and performer. For example, Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin worked on The Andy Williams Show; Grusin later scored many of their television shows, including Maude. “If you ever had to draw a map, it would be pretty confusing,” he says of his path through scoring over 60 films— including The Graduate, On Golden Pond, and The Fabulous Baker Boys—and countless television episodes. Where does Grusin find inspiration for all this music? “The thing that allows me to come up with an idea is a deadline,” he deadpans. Another Grusin film score, The Milagro Beanfield War, netted him an Oscar in 1988 and led to his settling in New Mexico. Between running a record company, GRP, with business partner Larry Rosen in New York and movie work in Los Angeles, he figured it was just as easy to commute from Santa Fe. And, for the Colorado native, there was skiing. “Like bowling night” might be for someone else, Grusin always reserved at least one evening a week for playing jazz. With 10 Grammy Awards for performing and producing, Grusin has worked with Quincy Jones, Antônio Carlos Jobim, James Taylor, and Renée Fleming. His most frequent collaborator may well be guitarist Lee Ritenour. Now in his 80s, Grusin and his wife divide their time between Santa Fe and their ranch in Montana. He jokes that for a while, “Fly-fishing was a solid occupation, and music was kind of a hobby.” Grusin has no plans to retire. He and Ritenour have tour dates scheduled in Scandinavia and Switzerland in the upcoming months, and Grusin continues to thrive on the camaraderie and the ongoing musical conversation that is jazz. “After all these years I don’t know how to do anything else, so I had better do this,” he says of his life in music. “It’s been a great ride.”—LVS
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santafean.com
april/may 2018