GRP Records
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GRP Records is an American jazz record company that was founded in New York by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen in 1982. Prior to this, Grusin and Rosen had been making records with artists like Angela Bofill, Tom Browne and Bernard Wright under a production arrangement with Clive Davis at Arista known as Arista GRP. Embracing an all-digital recording philosophy, they became the first label to release all of their titles on compact disc. Dave Grusin's 'Mountain Dance' was the first digitally recorded album outside of classical music. After years of going though different distributors, the label signed with MCA in 1987 which brought out the company three years later. For most of the 1990s, GRP was in charge of MCA's (soon to be renamed Universal Music Group) jazz operations. Founders Grusin and Rosen left in 1995 and were replaced by Tommy LiPuma who revived the Impulse! Records label and begin signing modern jazz artists. After the mega merger with PolyGram, GRP became part of the Verve Music Group and was relegated to being a smooth jazz label, at the same time incorporating the catalog from the deactivated Verve Forecast label that was a part of PolyGram. (Verve Forecast was later revived but not as a smooth jazz label.)
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[edit] Notable artists who recorded for GRP
- Mindi Abair
- Patti Austin
- David Benoit
- George Benson
- Angela Bofill
- Brecker Brothers
- Michael Brecker
- Tom Browne
- Gary Burton
- Larry Carlton
- Chick Corea
- The Crusaders
- Will Downing, early recordings with Verve Forecast
- Kevin Eubanks
- Dizzy Gillespie
- GRP All-Star Big Band
- Dave Grusin
- Don Grusin
- B.B. King
- Earl Klugh
- Diana Krall, early recordings with GRP, later recorded with Impulse! and now Verve
- The Rippingtons
- Lee Ritenour
- Arturo Sandoval
- Sergio Salvatore
- Diane Schuur
- Spyro Gyra
- Dave Weckl
- Yellow jackets
[edit] Meaning of GRP
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 became "Great Records Period". Both are rarely used today, the company is now know as "GRP Records".
