David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic musicians. He was inducted into the

International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame For a professional in the bluegrass music field, election to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor the genre can bestow. An invitation can be extended to performers, songwriters, promoters, broadcasters, musicians, a ...

in 2023.

Biography

Grisman grew up in a

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...

household in

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city was the state's 16th-most-populous municipality, In the early 1960s, he attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He belonged to the

Even Dozen Jug Band The Even Dozen Jug Band was founded in 1963 by Stefan Grossman (solo country blues and ragtime guitarist) and Peter Siegel (roots-based guitarist and producer) in New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the ...

with

Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur (born Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato; September 12, 1942) is an American folk and blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. She recorded the 1973 hit song " Midnight at the Oasis" and h ...

and

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the ban ...

. He played in the bluegrass band the Kentuckians led by

Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been described by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armst ...

, then in the psychedelic rock band Earth Opera with

Peter Rowan Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. He plays guitar, fiddle, dobro, banjo, bass, piano and mandolin. He has a wide vocal range and yodels. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall o ...

. He moved to San Francisco, met

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...

, and appeared on the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

album ''American Beauty''. He played in Garcia's bluegrass band

Old & In the Way Old & In the Way was a bluegrass group formed in 1973. It was composed of Peter Rowan (guitar, vocals), Vassar Clements (fiddle), Jerry Garcia (banjo, vocals), David Grisman (mandolin, vocals), and John Kahn (string bass). When the group was for ...

with Peter Rowan and

Vassar Clements Vassar Carlton Clements (April 25, 1928 – August 16, 2005) was an American jazz, Swing music, swing, and Bluegrass music, bluegrass fiddler. Clements has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz, an improvisational style that blends and borro ...

. When Grisman was 17 years old, he was invited on stage by

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His ...

to join him on mandolin for a rendition of “In the Pines”. Garcia named him "Dawg" after a dog that was following him while they were driving in

Stinson Beach Stinson Beach is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, on the west coast of the United States. Stinson Beach is located east-southeast of Bolinas, right across the channel that terminates the ...

, California. "Dawg Music" is what Grisman calls his mixture of bluegrass and

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

-influenced jazz as highlighted on his album Hot Dawg (recorded Oct. 1978, released 1979).Horizon SP-731 LP Jacket It was Grisman's combination of Reinhardt-era

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, bluegrass, folk, Old World Mediterranean

string band A string band is an old-time music or jazz ensemble made up mainly or solely of string instruments. String bands were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and are among the forerunners of modern country music and bluegrass. While being active count ...

music, as well as modern

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

that came to embody "Dawg" music. Bill Keith-David Grisman-Tony Rice-Courville-sur-Eure-Folk Festival-1977

In the 1970s, he started the

David Grisman Quintet The David Grisman Quintet is a self-styled alternative bluegrass/acoustic jazz band founded by David Grisman in 1975 in San Francisco, California, US. The quintet draws from genres including Bill Monroe's bluegrass legacy and Django Reinhardt's ...

with

Darol Anger Darol Robert Anger is an American violinist and founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Career Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman' ...

, Joe Carroll,

Todd Phillips Todd Phillips (born Todd Philip Bunzl; December 19, 1970) is an American filmmaker. Phillips began his career in 1993 and directed films in the 2000s such as ''Road Trip'', '' Old School'', ''Starsky & Hutch'', and '' School for Scoundrels''. ...

, and

Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020) was an American bluegrass guitarist and singer. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz. He was inducted into the In ...

. They released their eponymous first album in 1977 for Kaleidoscope Records and their second, Hot Dawg, two years later for

Horizon Records Horizon Records was an American independent record label founded in 1962 by Dave Hubert. Horizon was originally a folk and blues label distributed by World Pacific Records. When Liberty Records acquired World Pacific in 1965, it also took over th ...

, the jazz division of

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. When the quintet recorded for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, the membership changed to include Mike Marshall,

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Mu ...

, and

Rob Wasserman Rob Wasserman (April 1, 1952 – June 29, 2016) was an American composer and bass player. A Grammy Award and NEA grant winner, he played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians including Bob Weir, Bruce Cockburn, Elvis Costello, Ani di ...

, with occasional guest appearances by jazz violinist

. In the 1980s, Grisman formed the record label

Acoustic Disc David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acousti ...

, which issued his recordings and those by other acoustic musicians. The folk and bluegrass part of his personality emerged when he recorded with Mark O'Connor, Tony Rice, and

Andy Statman Andrew Edward Statman (born 1950) is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist. Life and career Statman was born in New York City and grew up in the borough of Queens. Beginning at age 12, he learned to play banj ...

Family

Grisman is married to Tracy Bigelow and was married twice before. He has three grown children: Samson,

Gillian Gillian may refer to: Places * Gillian Settlement, Arkansas, an unincorporated community People Gillian (variant Jillian) is an English feminine given name, frequently shortened to Gill. It originates as a feminine form of the name Julian, Julio ...

, and

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

. Samson, a bassist and recording session musician living in Portland, often performs with his father. Gillian, a filmmaker living in

Novato, California Novato (Spanish language, Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, situated in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, directed ''

Grateful Dawg ''Grateful Dawg'' is a documentary film released in 2000 which chronicles the friendship and musical collaboration of musicians Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Director and producer Gillian Grisman uses multiple videos, as well as live recordings, ...

'' and the music documentary, ''

Village Music Village Music was a record store in Mill Valley, California owned by John Goddard. It was nationally recognized for its extensive collection of old, rare and specialty records. Village Music was also known for its in-store performances and annive ...

: Last of the Great Record Stores''.

Monroe Grisman Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

, named for bluegrass music pioneer

Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...

, lives in Fairfax, California, and plays in the

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...

tribute band Petty Theft. Mandolin Symposium Aug 2004 Backstage John Paul Jones David Grisman Monroe Grisman Chris Thile Mike Marshall

In media

Grisman's song "Dawggy Mountain Breakdown" was the opening theme song for ''

Car Talk ''Car Talk'' is a metonym for the humorous work of "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers", Tom and Ray Magliozzi, on automobile repair. Originally, ''Car Talk'' was a radio show that ran on National Public Radio (NPR) from 1977 until Octobe ...

'' on NPR. Grisman sued YouTube in May 2007, asserting in federal court that YouTube should be required to prevent individuals from illegally uploading recordings of his music. Grisman's attorneys requested voluntary dismissal of the suit. The documentary ''

'' (October 14, 2001) chronicles the friendship between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. Grisman was a judge for the 6th and 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. He wrote much of the bluegrass music for the 1974 film ''

Big Bad Mama ''Big Bad Mama'' is a 1974 American action-crime-sexploitation comedy film produced by Roger Corman, starring Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, and Tom Skerritt, with Susan Sennett and Robbie Lee. The film is about a mother, Wilma (played by ...

'' directed by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

. It was played by the Great American Music Band, and they were recorded and mixed by Bill Wolf.''Big Bad Mama'' entry in
The Compleat Grateful Dead Discography
''

Discography

Acoustic Disc

Acoustic Disc is an independent

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

founded by Grisman in 1990. The label is based in San Rafael, California, and specializes in bluegrass, folk, jazz, and Dawg music.

References

External links

Dawg.net
Dave Grisman/Acoustic Disc official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grisman, David 1945 births Living people Jewish American musicians Jewish American singers Musicians from Hackensack, New Jersey Singers from New Jersey American jazz musicians American bluegrass musicians American session musicians Jerry Garcia American bluegrass mandolinists Even Dozen Jug Band members David Grisman Quintet members Earth Opera members Muleskinner (band) members Old & In the Way members