GRP Records

GRP Records is an American jazz record company that was founded in New York by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen in 1982.

History

Previously, the duo had formed Grusin/Rosen Productions as a freelance production team in 1976, making records for labels such as RCA, Blue Note and CTI with artists like Jon Lucien, Noel Pointer, Earl Klugh and Patti Austin. Between 1978-1982, Grusin/Rosen Productions operated under a label agreement with Clive Davis at Arista, which was known as Arista/GRP. They achieved success with a number of artists during this period, most notably trumpeter Tom Browne and his jazz-funk hit 'Funkin' for Jamaica'. Embracing an all-digital recording philosophy, GRP made early use of Soundstream's digital recording technology, resulting in Dave Grusin's 'Mountain Dance' (1979), one of the earliest all-digital recordings outside of classical music.

In 1982, GRP Records became an independent label. They quickly became one of the first U.S. labels to release all of their titles on compact disc under the moniker 'The Digital Master Company'. The label achieved success at radio in the New Adult Contemporary (NAC) format on stations like CD101.9 in New York and The Wave in Los Angeles.

In 1987, GRP Records signed a distribution deal with MCA Records; GRP was distributed throughout Europe during this time by a coalition of independent distributors coordinated by the label's Zurich office. MCA bought GRP Records in 1990 allowing the label to handle MCA's (soon to be renamed Universal Music Group) jazz operations. As a result, GRP reissued numerous classic jazz titles from MCA's Impulse, Chess and Decca catalogs. As Billboard's #1 Contemporary Jazz label for five consecutive years, GRP Records was the major forerunner for the success of the 'smooth jazz' format. Founders Grusin and Rosen left in 1995 and were replaced by producer Tommy LiPuma. After the merger of Universal with PolyGram, GRP became one of a series of labels managed by the Verve Music Group. It's output today is primarily smooth jazz.

GRP etymology

The company's name has had different meanings. In its early days, it stood for "Grusin/Rosen Productions", after the founders. By the mid-1990s, after Grusin and Rosen left the company, GRP used the marketing slogan "Great Records Period". Both are rarely used today, the company is now know as "GRP Records".

Artists

The following is a list of artist that recorded with Grusin/Rosen Productions, Arista/GRP, or GRP Records:

With Grusin/Rosen Productions

* Jon Lucien
* Noel Pointer
* Earl Klugh
* Patti Austin
* Lee Ritenour

With Arista/GRP

* Dave Valentin
* Angela Bofill
* Tom Browne
* Bernard Wright
* Bobby Broom
* Don Blackman
* Jay Hoggard
* Scott Jarrett

With GRP Records

* Mindi Abair
* Gerald Albright
* Acoustic Alchemy
* Patti Austin
* David Benoit
* George Benson
* Brecker Brothers
* Michael Brecker
* Paul Brown
* Gary Burton
* Larry Carlton
* Chick Corea
* The Crusaders
* Brian Culbertson
* Will Downing
* Dr. John
* Richard Elliot
* Kevin Eubanks
* Dizzy Gillespie
* Jeff Golub
* GRP All-Star Big Band
* Dave Grusin
* Don Grusin
* Al Jarreau
* B.B. King
* Kenny Kirkland
* Diana Krall
* Ramsey Lewis
* The Rippingtons
* Lee Ritenour
* Joe Sample
* Arturo Sandoval
* Sergio Salvatore
* David Sanborn
* Diane Schuur
* Tom Scott
* Daryl Stuermer
* Spyro Gyra
* Wayman Tisdale
* Luther Vandross
* Dave Weckl
* Bernie Williams
* Yellowjackets

ee also

* List of record labels

External links

* [http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/label/?lid=3 Official GRP Records site]
* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=85923901 GRP Records' MySpace page]
* [http://www.larryrosen.com Official site of co-founder Larry Rosen]