Mike Garson

Mike Garson began piano lessons at seven, pursued a decade of classical study, earned a degree from Brooklyn College, fulfilled military obligations, and then entered the rock band Brethren for its recorded output. Freelance work quickly followed with Mel Tormé, Thad Jones, and Annette Peacock, while private study with Lennie Tristano and a pivotal six-hour lesson from Bill Evans sharpened his command. Between 1972 and 1974 he toured alongside David Bowie, afterward settling in Los Angeles where he appeared with Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Clarke in 1978. A prolific studio career soon developed in both composition and performance, leading him to join Free Flight in 1982, an ensemble that moves fluidly among classical works, straight-ahead jazz, and funk-driven rhythms. Garson’s virtuosity emerges most clearly in his own ensembles or with Free Flight, yet he also supplied the soundtrack for a Liberace television film and contributed his hands to its on-screen keyboard sequences. Jazz albums under his leadership have appeared on Contemporary in 1979 as well as on the Jazzhounds, Chase, and Reference labels.