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Mike Garson

The Bowie Variations

Reference Recordings

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Mike Garson - Space Oddity
Mike On David Bowie
The NOWMAN Show: Best of 2017
David Bowie ft. Mike Garson - My Death (Live)
10 Year Old Jams with David Bowie Keyboardist Mike Garson at Synthogy Ivory II Booth
Mike Garson at NAMM 2017
Mike Garson and Paganini Variations
1 Space Oddity  
2 John, I'm Only Dancing  
3 Life On Mars  
4 Heroes  
5 Ashes To Ashes  
6 Variations on "Changes"  
7 Let's Dance  
8 Battle For Britain/Loneliest Guy/Disco King  
9 Tribute to David  
10 Wild is the Wind  
11 Space Oddity: take 2  
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"Whatever Mike lends his hands to invariably becomes something magical." David Bowie

Reference Recordings is thrilled to present a new release of virtuoso solo improvisations by David Bowie's long-time music director! Beginning in 1972, super-versatile pianist Mike Garson performed, toured internationally and recorded with one of the most creative figures in popular music, David Bowie. Garson writes, "When I met David, I sensed that he was an immense artist and a songwriter with a flair for great melodies and unique harmonies. The Ziggy Stardust tour changed the course of my life in many ways and began a working relationship and a special friendship that has spanned four decades."
 
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  • Killerstar announce new album 'Live At The 100 Club' / TotalNtertainment
    Posted At: January 10, 2025
    TotalNtertainment - Jo Forrest writes…..In March 2024, KillerStar celebrated the release of their critically acclaimed self-titled album by playing their debut show at a sold-out 100 Club. As the band prepare to make a triumphant return to the venue with two headline shows on March 7th and 8th, KillerStar now announce the release of the ‘Live At The 100 Club’ album on March 7th.The album sees KillerStar inf...

  • Mike Garson's thoughts on David Bowie's last tour / The Suburban
    Posted At: July 20, 2023
    The Suburban writes….The 'Starman' legend - who died in 2016 aged 69 after a private cancer battle - never toured again after 2004, and Mike Garson thinks his words might have had an impact on Bowie's decision. He told Music Week: "So he called me in 2006 and he said, 'Well, Mike, do you think we should go out again?' "Now, I think the band and my wife want to kill me because I said something absurd, but ac...

  • Mike Garson shares his love of music with Sacramento's abc10 - KXTV
    Posted At: January 15, 2021

    A true virtuoso, Mike Garson 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 ...

  • Mike Garson set to host 'A Bowie Celebration - Just For One Day!: Save the Children benefit livestream / Grateful Web
    Posted At: December 16, 2020

    "A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day!" is the global streaming event to start 2021 off on a massive level on January 8 beginning at 6pm PT hosted by Mike Garson, David Bowie's longest standing band member. The stream will bring together a dazzling array of artists who worked with Bowie, or were deeply influenced by him and his work, for a celebration on what would have been his birthday and weekend of ...

  • David Bowie's legacy continues under the expert direction of Mike Garson / Louder Than War
    Posted At: January 25, 2020

    The magnificent legacy of David Bowie continues unabated as Ian Corbridge joined the massed gathering of Bowie's alumni, under the expert direction of Mike Garson, as A Bowie Celebration swept into Manchester at the start of another world tour.  It is still hard to believe that it is now over four years since David Bowie left this mortal coil and moved on to entertain those in another dimension....

  • David Bowie alumni tour returns to Manchester / About Manchester
    Posted At: January 7, 2020

    Join key alumni musicians of David Bowie's bands from across the decades in January 2020 at O2ritz: Manchester for The David Bowie Alumni Diamond Dogs & More Tour featuring an unforgettable and critically acclaimed evening of Bowie songs with world-class vocalists. Anchored by Mike Garson along with a revolving selection of additional amazing Bowie band alumni including Gerry Leonard, Carmine Roj...

  • Mike Garson set for '2019 David Bowie Alumni Tour' / RollingStone
    Posted At: January 16, 2019

    For the third year in a row, veteran members of various David Bowie's backing bands are hitting the road to play music from his vast catalog. This year's incarnation of the A Bowie Celebration tour is lead by Spiders From Mars keyboardist Mike Garson (who played with Bowie from 1972 all the way to his final live appearance in 2006), guitarist Earl Slick, bassist Carmine Rojas, multi-instrumentalist Mark ...

  • Mike Garson, the piano player who helped David Bowie go radical / OZY
    Posted At: June 4, 2018

    When David Bowie headed into London's Trident Studios to work on his new album, he had a tough act to follow - his own. Bowie had already broken big in the United Kingdom, but his 1972 smash, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, made him an international (if not intergalactic) phenomenon. Like everything he did, Bowie wanted his next record, Aladdin Sane, to be a radical work of...

  • Mike Garson leads David Bowie alum-tour into O2 Academy / GlasgowLive
    Posted At: May 15, 2018

    Keyboardist Mike Garson - who played over 1,000 concerts with the pop icon - will lead The David Bowie Alumni Tour to play Bowie's greatest hits at the O2 Academy - Glasgow, on 10 January 2019. Musicians who appeared on stage with Bowie, such as Earl Slick, Gerry Leonard, Carmine Rojas, will join with Garson to play some of the legend's greatest hits in front of what's expected to be a packed...

  • As 'Celebrating David Bowie' readies Fort Lauderdale, Mike Garson speaks with SouthFlorida.com
    Posted At: March 13, 2018

    When David Bowie hired keyboardist Mike Garson for the "Ziggy Stardust" tour in 1972, the contract covered eight weeks of shows but failed to mention Garson would play Bowie's "guinea pig" in concert. At New York's famed Hammerstein Ballroom in 1973, Bowie asked Garson to "test the room" and perform a solo piano cover of "John, I'm Only Dancing" for an audience that included Barbra Streisand and Elliot G...

  • 'Celebrating David Bowie' set for Pabst Theater. Mike Garson Q&A with OnMilwaukee
    Posted At: February 21, 2018

    When David Bowie hired pianist Mike Garson in 1972, the contract was for eight weeks of work. Garson accompanied Bowie's glam-rock band on a U.S. tour, playing songs from the "Ziggy Stardust" album. An accomplished classical and jazz piano player, Garson seemed an unlikely choice to be in a hard rock band that wore spandex jumpsuits and favored mascara, rouge and glitter to excess. "That's precis...

  • Win tickets to 'Celebrating David Bowie' Montreal show / Bad Feeling Magazine
    Posted At: February 13, 2018

    It's hard to believe that two years have passed since David Bowie's death. His untimely passing was a huge shock, but his music and influence continue to reverberate throughout the culture at large, from his final mesmerizing Blackstar album to the flood of covers and tributes that have popped up since his death. To honour Bowie's memory, a collection of his former bandmates came together las...

  • Celebrating David Bowie at London's 02Shepherd's Bush empire / Entertainment Focus review
    Posted At: January 14, 2018

    Let's dance! The band who are celebrating David Bowie's legacy and performing the music include: Mike Garson, who toured with Bowie from '72-04; Gerry Leonard, who toured with Bowie on his last three tours; and Adrian Belew, who played on the Heroes / Isolar II tour and he was also the musical director for Bowie's Sound And Vision tour. The crowd were extremely passionate and die-hard fans, face...

  • Mike Garson takes on David Bowie's 'Aladdin Sane' at O2 Institute / expressandstar
    Posted At: June 28, 2017

    It's been almost 45 years since the release of David Bowie's sixth album Aladdin Sane - and renowned pianist Mike Garson is gearing up to peform the classic record in full at his Saturday, November 25 - O2 Institute 2 show in Birmingham UK. Garson, who helped create the 1973 masterpiece with Bowie, has also worked with top artists, such as Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan and The Smashing ...

  • Mike Garson at NAMM 2017
    Posted At: January 21, 2017

    From Bach to Bowie, east coast to west coast, piano keyboards to computer keyboards, Mike Garson has worked to make the world a more creative, compassionate and compelling place. He remains a man of many talents and limitless inspiration. No artistic medium is off-limits to this avant-garde individual to whom the word "no" is quickly transformed into the word "now." Best known for his impressive skills a...

  • David Bowie Keyboardist Mike Garson: 'He Was a Chameleon' / RollingStone
    Posted At: February 2, 2016

    When Mike Garson was hired to play piano for David Bowie on the Ziggy Stardust tour in September of 1972, he had every reason to think the gig would be short-lived. Bowie only offered him an eight-week contract, and he was the fourth pianist brought onto the tour during just a few months. Against all odds, Garson not only endured throughout the entire tour, he stuck with the singer all the way through Yo...

  • David Bowie pianist/arranger - Mike Garson interviews with KLOS Radio from Namm 2016
    Posted At: January 27, 2016

    Mike Garson, most notable for his work with David Bowie, as well as Nine Inch Nails, Billy Corgan, Free Flight, and The Smashing Pumpkins. Garson worked with us on The Bowie Variations, a songbook that pays tribute to the recently departed musician and music icon. Garson performed, toured internationally and recorded with Bowie, and thanks to the Yamaha Disklavier and Reference Record...

  • Mike Garson says: 'David Bowie was a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci'
    Posted At: January 12, 2016

    Mike Garson was the Thin White Duke's musical director on David Bowie's world tours from 1972-75, and again from 1992-2005. He writes here about working and knowing who he refers to as a modern-day Leonardo Da Vinci. I was with David Bowie for his last live performance in 2006. It was a private show for charity – just me on the piano and him on vocals. That was the last time we per...

  • Mike Garson, David Bowie's piano man / The Irish Times
    Posted At: May 22, 2015

    On May 5th, the one millionth visitor was welcomed to the David Bowie Is exhibition, which began at London's V&A in 2013 and has now reached Paris. The resurgence of interest in Bowie, with 2013's album The Next Day, his first in 10 years, rapidly becoming a world best-seller, has confirmed the durability of his stunning artistry. In the spring of 1973 I was an 11-year-old growing up in nort...

  • Mike Garson: 'The Bowie Variations.' Solo improvisations by David Bowie's music director
    Posted At: August 26, 2011

    Reference Recordings is thrilled to present a new release of virtuoso solo improvisations by David Bowie's long-time music director Mike Garson.   Beginning in 1972, super-versatile pianist performed, toured internationally and recorded with one of the most creative figures in popular music, David Bowie.   Garson writes, "When I met David, I sensed that he was an immense art...
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