Don Grolnick
American jazz musician (1947–1996)
Don Grolnick (September 23, 1947 – June 1, 1996) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He was a member of the groups Steps Ahead and Dreams , both with Michael Brecker , and played often with the Brecker Brothers . As a session musician, he recorded with John Scofield , Billy Cobham , Roberta Flack , Harry Chapin , Dave Holland , Bette Midler , Marcus Miller , Bob Mintzer , Linda Ronstadt , David Sanborn , Carly Simon , J. D. Souther , Steely Dan , and James Taylor .[ 1]
Career
Grolnick was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Levittown , New York, the only child of Muriel Grolnick (1927–1997) and Lester Grolnick (1922–2009). Grolnick was Jewish. He began his musical life on accordion but later switched to piano. His interest in jazz began as a child when his father took him to a Count Basie concert, and soon after they also saw Erroll Garner perform at Carnegie Hall . He attended Tufts University with a major in philosophy.
After he left Tufts, he formed the jazz-rock band Fire & Ice with Ken Melville on guitar and Stuart Schulman, his friend since childhood, on bass guitar. They were the opening act for B.B. King , The Jeff Beck Group, and the Velvet Underground at Boston clubs like the Boston Tea Party and The Ark. This was Grolnick's first foray into rock and blues as a performer, and he began to write within the medium as well. Grolnick moved back to New York in 1969 and joined Melville in the jazz fusion band "D". He toured with Linda Ronstadt in 1977 and again in 1984 when she was performing American standards with Nelson Riddle and his orchestra. In their liner notes to the 1999 reissue of The Royal Scam , Donald Fagen and Walter Becker state "...Don Grolnick keyboard vamps so solid you could set your watch by them."[ 2]
Grolnick died at the age of 48 on June 1, 1996 from Non-Hodgkin lymphoma . His cremated remains are interred in the columbarium at Fort Hill Cemetery in Montauk, New York .
Discography
As leader/co-leader
Year recorded
Title
Label
Personnel/Notes
1985
Hearts and Numbers
Windham Hill
With Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Jeff Mironov, Hiram Bullock and Bob Mann (guitar), Will Lee, Marcus Miller and Tom Kennedy (bass), Peter Erskine and Steve Jordan (drums)
1990
Weaver of Dreams
Blue Note
Septet, with Randy Brecker , Michael Brecker , Bob Mintzer , Dave Holland , Peter Erskine , Barry Rogers
1992
Nighttown
Blue Note
With Randy Brecker (trumpet), Steve Turre (trombone), Joe Lovano (tenor sax), Marty Ehrlich (bass clarinet), Dave Holland (bass), Bill Stewart (drums)
1995?
Medianoche
Warner Bros.
With Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Dave Valentin (flute), Mike Mainieri (vibes), Andy Gonzalez (bass), Don Alias , Steve Berrios and Milton Cardona (percussion)
1995
London Concert
Fuzzy Music
With Randy Brecker (trumpet), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Marty Ehrlich (alto sax, bass clarinet), Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Peter Washington (bass), Peter Erskine (drums), Don Alias (percussion); in concert
1997
Don Grolnick - The complete Blue Note Recordings
Blue Note
With with Randy Brecker , Michael Brecker , Joe Lovano , Bob Mintzer , Dave Holland , Peter Erskine , Bill Stewart and others
Sources:[ 3] [ 4] [ 5]
With Brecker Brothers
With Dreams
With Steps Ahead
As sideman
With Gato Barbieri
1976 Caliente!
1978 Ruby, Ruby
1988 Passion and Fire
With Joe Beck
With George Benson
With Ron Carter
With Peter Erskine
1982 Peter Erskine
1986 Transition
With Steve Khan
1977 Tightrope
1978 The Blue Man
1979 Arrows
With Melissa Manchester
With The Manhattan Transfer
With Bob Mintzer
1982 Source
1983 Papa Lips
1985 Incredible Journey
1988 Spectrum
1989 Urban Contours
With Esther Phillips
1975 Esther Phillips and Joe Beck
1975 What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
1976 Capricorn Princess
1976 For All We Know
With Bonnie Raitt
With Linda Ronstadt
With David Sanborn
With John Scofield
With Don Sebesky
With Carly Simon
With Steely Dan
With James Taylor
With John Tropea
1975 Tropea
1977 Short Trip to Space
1979 To Touch You Again
1991 NYC Cats Direct
With others
1973 Bette Midler , Bette Midler
1974 A Beautiful Thing , Cleo Laine
1974 Barry Manilow II , Barry Manilow
1974 The Chicago Theme , Hubert Laws
1975 Mark Murphy Sings , Mark Murphy
1976 Main Squeeze , Chuck Mangione
1976 Second Childhood , Phoebe Snow
1976 Speak No Evil , Buddy Rich
1976 The Main Attraction , Grant Green
1977 Blue Lights in the Basement , Roberta Flack
1977 In My Stride , David Ruffin
1977 Inner Conflicts , Billy Cobham
1977 Libby Titus , Libby Titus
1977 Love Play , Mike Mainieri
1977 Ringo the 4th , Ringo Starr
1977 Ghost Writer , Garland Jeffreys
1979 Yama , Art Farmer
1979 You're Only Lonely , J.D. Souther
1979 The Cat and the Hat , Ben Sidran
1980 Dreamers Matinee , Don Schlitz
1980 Middle Man , Boz Scaggs
1980 Naughty , Chaka Khan
1980 One Bad Habit , Michael Franks
1980 One-Trick Pony , Paul Simon
1980 Red Cab to Manhattan , Stephen Bishop
1980 Whirlwind , Andrew Gold
1981 Wanderlust , Mike Mainieri
1982 Anyone Can See , Irene Cara
1983 Mobo Vols. 1 & 2 , Kazumi Watanabe
1987 Short Stories , Bob Berg
1988 Don't Try This at Home , Michael Brecker
1988 Tears of Joy , Tuck & Patti
1988 Time in Place , Mike Stern
1990 Now You See It... (Now You Don't) , Michael Brecker (Grolnick as Producer & Composer)
1991 Warm Your Heart , Aaron Neville [ 6]
References
^ Yanow, Scott. "Don Grolnick" . AllMusic . Retrieved 27 May 2017 .
^ Becker, Walter, and Fagen, Donald, The Royal Scam . 1999: MCA Records 088 112 051-2, liner notes.
^ Cook, Richard ; Morton, Brian (1996). The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD (3rd ed.). Penguin . p. 545. ISBN 978-0-14-051368-4 .
^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 610. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0 .
^ Dryden, Ken. "Don Grolnick – Weaver of Dreams" . AllMusic . Retrieved November 20, 2018 .
^ "Don Grolnick | Credits | AllMusic" . AllMusic . Retrieved 28 May 2017 .
External links
International National Academics Artists