[1] Grenadier's father was a trumpet player in World War II army bands and later in Europe, but stopped playing professionally before his children were born.

Grenadier began listening to several jazz bassists including Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, Richard Davis, Paul Chambers, Wilbur Ware and Oscar Pettiford, among others.

At 16, Grenadier had a busy career playing in the San Francisco Bay Area with both local musicians and those traveling through town in need of a bass player.

[2] He continued to collaborate with some of the musicians he had met during his time in Boston, such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Joshua Redman, Mark Turner, Jorge Rossy, and Chris Cheek.

Grenadier continued his association with Joe Henderson, touring with his band which at times included Al Foster, Renee Rosnes and Larry Willis.

As leader With BeatleJazz With Peter Beets With Peter Bernstein With Seamus Blake With Chris Cheek With George Colligan With Fly With Jon Gordon With Phil Grenadier With Kevin Hays With Hudson (Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, John Medeski, and Larry Grenadier) With Ethan Iverson With David Kikoski With Jonathan Kreisberg With Charles Lloyd With Herbie Mann With Brad Mehldau With Pat Metheny With Paul Motian With Rebecca Martin With MTB With Wolfgang Muthspiel With Chris Potter With Enrico Rava With Joshua Redman With Kurt Rosenwinkel With Jamie Saft With David Sánchez With Stan Sulzmann With Mark Turner With Scott Wendholt With Steve Wilson With Frank Wess and Johnny Coles With Chihiro Yamanaka