Robert David "Dave" Grusin (born June 26,[a] 1934) is an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader. He has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy Award and 10 Grammy Awards. In 1978, Grusin founded GRP Records with Larry Rosen, and was an early pioneer of digital recording.
Grusin was born in Littleton, Colorado, to Henri and Rosabelle (née de Poyster) Grusin. Grusin’s family originates from Gruzinsky princely line of the Bagrationi dynasty, the royal family that ruled the Kingdom of Georgia in the 9-19th centuries. In Slavic languages, "Grusin" is an ethnonym for Georgians.
Grusin’s father, who was a violinist, was born and raised in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, from where he emigrated to the United States in 1913. Grusin's mother was a pianist. Grusin’s mother is of Jewish ancestry.
Grusin studied music at the University of Colorado at Boulder and received his degree in 1956. Grusin's teachers included Cecil Effinger and Wayne Scott, pianist, arranger and professor of jazz.

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