Dave Grusin

Aside from hip-hop and heavey metal, jazz keyboardist Dave Grusin has just about done it all. He started out as a swinging hard bopper, before his long stint as Andy Williams' musical director kicked-off in 1959. Then, in 1967 Grusin healmed the soundtrack to The Graduate. Since then, he's kept one foot in movie work and forged a special bond with director Sydney Pollock (his pre-Acid Jazz work on Three Days of the Condor and his all acoustic piano score for The Firm are two notable examples of their partnership). Meanwhile, Grusin kept playing jazz and arranging charts for major acts. Grusin also helped forge the current mainstream instrumental sound by co-founding GRP records, a label that often celebrates smooth jazz and occasionally reissues key albums from the past. Grusin's film scores have been nominated for numerous Academy Awards. He took an Oscar home for The Milagro Beanfield War.