Mike Garson, a true virtuoso, has had a very diverse career. Heard at his best with his own groups or with Free Flight,
Garson has also toured with
David Bowie and for a television movie on
Liberace, he performed the music and had his hands used for the playing sequences of the film. He started playing piano when he was seven, studied classical music for ten years, graduated from Brooklyn College, served in the military, and then joined a rock group called Brethren that recorded.
Garson soon gained experience freelancing with a wide variety of performers, including
Mel Tormé,
Thad Jones, and
Annette Peacock; he also studied with
Lennie Tristano and had an important six-hour lesson with
Bill Evans.
Garson toured with
Bowie from 1972 to 1974, moved to Los Angeles, and worked with
Freddie Hubbard and
Stanley Clarke (1978). He became a busy studio musician (both composing and performing prolifically) and in 1982 joined Free Flight, a group that switches back and forth between classical, straight-ahead jazz, and funkier rhythms.
Garson has recorded jazz as a leader for Contemporary (1979), Jazzhounds, Chase, and Reference. ~ Scott Yanow