"Mountain Dance" Astonishing Orchestral Version, Dave Grusin on Piano

Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra ^ | Dave Grusin

[Steely Tom]

This is simply the best piece of music I've heard in thirty years. Absolutely awesome.

Note Mr. Grusin's quotation from In The Mood in his solo riff, at 3:12.

Note also his (possible) mistake at the end of his closing arpeggio (at 6:04), which he then repeats, as if to say, "yeah, I made a mistake, and even my mistakes are terrific!"

[Steely Tom]

Oh, forgot these:

• The Farmer's Daughter
• Gidget
• The Girl With Something Extra
• Good Times
• Maude
• The Wild, Wild West
• The Virginian

[Ammo Republic 15]

Thanks, I wasn’t aware of some of those. Grusin Is right up there with Jerry Goldsmith, Hugo Montenegro, John Barry, Lalo Schifrin and of course the great Mancini!

[Steely Tom]

Thanks, I wasn’t aware of some of those. Grusin Is right up there with Jerry Goldsmith, Hugo Montenegro, John Barry, Lalo Schifrin and of course the great Mancini!

Absolutely.

I've always thought that the theme song for Mannix was the best TV theme song ever written. The key changes in the bridge are just thrilling, finally resolving to the original root.

Obviously, Mancini's Peter Gunn theme is iconic, and is the definitive masterpiece of the genre.

Also deserving of mention is the theme song for Route 66, by Nelson Riddle, who was no piker either.

But Dave Grusin deserves to be counted in the upper rank of the field, and the performance in the piece that is the subject of this thread demonstrates that he is perhaps the best of them in terms of sheer virtuosity, command of his instrument, pure technical excellence, as well as remarkable interpretive skill, as is evidenced by his improvisations in the song.

At least I think they're improvisation.

If you listen closely, you'll catch that what appears to be improvisation in the phrase at 3:29 is precisely echoed by the trumpet section at 3:51!

[Steely Tom]

Oh, I forgot to give credit to Lalo Schifrin for Mannix, although I'm sure you already knew that.

[Steely Tom]

I've also always loved the theme song to Room 222 by Jerry Goldsmith, who also composed the theme to Chinatown, which is one of the great movie themes of all time.

[Ammo Republic 15]

“Oh, I forgot to give credit to Lalo Schifrin for Mannix, although I’m sure you already knew that.”

You betcha, I have six seasons of Mannix on dvd and recently me and the wife started with season one and went all the way through season six...took about a month!

Mannix is probably my all time number one favorite of TV series in that genre, although Columbo would rank near top too.

Thanks for your replies!

[Ammo Republic 15]

I agree with you on Room 222 though It’s been a long time since I’ve seen or heard that one.

For me Jerry’s ultimate masterpiece was the two Flint movies Our Man Flint and In Like Flint, but then again I’m a huge fan of 1960’s spy films and the music scores that accompanied them.