GRP Records

GRP Records
Parent company Universal Music Group
Founded 1978 (1978)
Founder Dave Grusin
Larry Rosen
Distributor(s) Verve Records
Genre Jazz
Country of origin U.S.
Location New York City
Official website www.vervemusicgroup.com

GRP Records (Grusin-Rosen Productions) is a jazz record label founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen in 1978. GRP was known for its all-digital recordings and jazz-pop sound.

Founding

Dave Grusin, a pianist and producer, and Larry Rosen, a drummer and recording engineer, established a production company in 1976 that recorded non-traditional jazz musicians like Earl Klugh and Lee Ritenour. When they founded GRP Records in 1978, they continued to concentrate on this fusion of jazz, pop, and rock.[1]

GRP was distributed by Arista until 1982. It was independent until 1987, when it made a deal with MCA Distributing. In 1990, GRP was bought by MCA, which gave the label the use of the catalogues of Impulse! and Decca, which GRP began to re-issue on CD. New recordings at GRP included music by David Benoit, Michael Brecker, Gary Burton, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea, Eddie Daniels, Mercer Ellington, Kevin Eubanks, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Haslip, Eric Marienthal, Gerry Mulligan, John Patitucci, The Rippingtons, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, and Dave Valentin.[1] The New York Voices signed a deal with GRP in 1989.[2]

GRP's use of Soundstream and digital recording contributed to the success of the label.[3] Grusin's album Mountain Dance (1980) was one of the earliest all-digital recordings outside of classical music.[4]

They also released the debut album of Cuban trumpet player Arturo Sandoval entitled "Flight to Freedom" in 1991,[5] after he and his family defected from Cuba with the help of the late Dizzy Gillespie. The HBO film For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story later told his story in 2001.[6]

Ten year anniversary

GRP celebrated its 10th anniversary by recording an album and video with many of the musicians on its roster forming the GRP All-Star Big Band. The label also reissued Glenn Miller's In the Digital Mood on a special edition gold CD. GRP was the top contemporary jazz label on Billboard magazine's charts for five consecutive years and increased the demand for smooth jazz music.

When Grusin and Rosen left in 1995, they were replaced by producer Tommy LiPuma. The label added George Benson, Chris Botti, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, and Joe Sample.

Acquisition

With Universal Music Group's acquisition of PolyGram in 1998, GRP became one of a series of labels managed by the Verve Music Group. Its output today is primarily smooth jazz under the moniker of Great Records, Period.

GRP currently manages most of the jazz back-catalog that Universal owned before the PolyGram merger. The jazz holdings of ABC Records are issued on Impulse!, which is reissue-only. This includes the jazz back-catalog of Famous Music Group, which ABC purchased from Gulf+Western in 1974, and the Arista-distributed GRP recordings, which are controlled by Sony Music Entertainment.

Discography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Rye, Howard (2002). Kernfeld, Barry, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 172. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
  2. ↑ "bios | New York Voices". newyorkvoices.com. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  3. ↑ "Larry Rosen, Jazz Producer and Co-Founder of GRP Records, Dies at 75". billboard.com. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  4. ↑ Holden, Stephen (5 February 1982). "POP JAZZ". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Arturo Sandoval - Flight To Freedom". Discogs. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  6. ↑ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (2001-11-17). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
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