David Grisman was born March 23, 1945 in Hackensack, New Jersey. For more than 40 years, the mandolinist and has been busy creating ‘dawg’ music, a blend of many stylistic influences (including swing, bluegrass, Latin, jazz and gypsy) so unique he gave it its own name. In doing so, David has inspired a whole new genre of acoustic string instrumental music with style and virtuosity while creating a unique niche for himself in the world of contemporary music.
Grisman was already playing the piano, saxophone and mandolin by the time he was a teenager, taking up the latter at age 16. In 1963 Grisman made his first recordings as an artist (the Even Dozen Jug Band-Elektra) and producer (Red Allen, Frank Wakefield and the Kentuckians – Folkways). David’s interests spread to jazz in 1967, while playing in the folk-rock ensemble, Earth Opera.
A failed attempt at learning to play the alto saxophone turned him into a student of jazz musicianship and theory. In the meantime, his burgeoning career as a session musician gave him experience playing other types of music and opportunities to stretch the boundaries of the mandolin. Today, his extensive discography includes recordings with Bela Fleck , the Grateful Dead, Stephane Grappelli, Emmylou Harris, Chris Isaak, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt , Earl Scruggs, Dan Fogelberg, Maria Muldaur, and James Taylor.
Discography
* The Even Dozen Jug Band (1964)
* Early Dawg (1966)
* Earth Opera (1968)
* The Great American Eagle Tragedy (1969)
* American Beauty (1970)
* A Potpourri of Bluegrass Jam (1972)
* Old and in the Way (1975)
* Eat My Dust (1976)
* The David Grisman Rounder Record – 1976)
* The David Grisman Quintet (Kaleidoscope, 1977)
* Hot Dawg (A&M, 1978)
* Quintet ’80 (Warner Brothers SK-3469, 1980)
* Mondo Mando (Zebra Records ZEAD-42248, 1981)
* Stephane Grappelli and David Grisman Live (1981)
* Here Today (Rounder CD-0169, 1982)
* David Grisman’s Acoustic Christmas (Rounder CD-0190, 1983)
* Dawg Jazz/Dawg Grass (Warner Brothers 9238041, 1983)
* David Grisman (Warner Brothers 1-23804, 1983)
* Mandolin Abstractions (Rounder 11540, 1983)
* Acousticity (MCA Records 6153, 1984)
* Svingin’ with Svend (Zebra Records ZEA-42108, 1987)
* Home Is Where the Heart Is (Rounder CD-0251/252, 1988)
* Dawg ’90 (1990)
* Garcia/Grisman (1991)
* Bluegrass Reunion (1992)
* Common Chord (1993)
* Not for Kids Only (Acoustic Disc, 1993)
* Dawgwood (Acoustic Disc 7, 1993)
* Muleskinner Live: Original Television Soundtrack (1994, recorded 1973)
* Tone Poems (Acoustic Disc 10, 1994)
* Dawganova (Acoustic Disc 17, 1995)
* Tone Poems II (Acoustic Disc 18, 1995)
* Songs of Our Fathers (1995)
* DGQ-20 (1996)
* Shady Grove (Acoustic Disc, 1996)
* That High Lonesome Sound 1996)
* Breakdown (1997)
* Doc & Dawg (1997)
* So What (1998)
* Retrograss (Acoustic Disc 37, 1999)
* Dawg Duos (Acoustic Disc 38, 1999)
* I’m Beginning To See The Light (Acoustic Disc, 1999)
* Tone Poems III: The Sounds of the Great Slide & Resophonic Instruments (Acoustic Disc 42, 2000)
* The Pizza Tapes (Acoustic Disc, 2000)
* Grateful Dawg (Acoustic Disc, 2001)
* New River (Acoustic Disc 45, 2001)
* Traversata (Acoustic Disc 47, 2001)
* Old and in the Gray (Acoustic Disc, 2002)
* Dawgnation (Acoustic Disc 49, 2002)
* Life of Sorrow (Acoustic Disc 53, 2003)
* Hold On, We’re Strummin’ (Acoustic Disc, 2003)
* Been All Around This World (Acoustic Disc, 2004)
* New Shabbos Waltz (Acoustic Disc 64, 2006)
* DGBX (Acoustic Disc 65, 2006)
* Dawg’s Groove (Acoustic Disc 66, 2006)
* The Living Room Sessions (Acoustic Disc, 2007)
* Satisfied (Acoustic Disc, 2007)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
