David Axelrod (born April 17, 1936, Los Angeles) is an American composer, arranger and producer, across a wide range of musical genres.

His father was active in radical labour union politics, and Axelrod was raised in South Central Los Angeles, where he grew up listening to R&B and jazz music. After a stint as a boxer, he found studio work in the booming film and television industry, and was soon in demand as a drummer, producer and arranger. He produced his first album in 1959, saxophonist Harold Land’s The Fox, which was seen as a landmark record showing that West Coast musicians could play top quality hard-edged jazz.