NOTHING TO IT,SAYS GARSON:"BASICALLY,ISTUDIED CLASSICAL PIANO

for tenyears,thenstudiedjazzforsixorsevenyears.Afterthat,

Ipracticedeighthoursadayforanothertenyears.IestimateIve

putinbetween50,000and70,000hourspracticing."

Brooklyn-bornGarsonwasan intellectually inclined jazz

musician when Bowie hired him for 1972s now-legendary

SpidersfromMarstour."Iwasjustajazzmusicianinshock!"

chucklesGarson."Ionlyplayedaboutfourbarsattheaudition

beforeMickRonson,Bowiesguitarist, said, Youvegot the

gig!"Garsonwentontolendhisfreeformpianoflourishesto

theclassicAladdinSaneandDiamondDogsalbums.

Garson returned to jazz and classical pursuits after his

Bowie years. But history repeated itself in 1993 when the

singer re-recruited thepianist forhisBlackTie,WhiteNoise

disc. More recently Garson has contributed to both the

PumpkinsMachina:theMachinesofGodandN.I.N.sFragile.

"WithbothbandsIhadthesamesortoffreedomIhadwith

Bowie,"hesays."MaybeitwasbecausethoseBowierecords

arewhatTrentReznorandBillyCorganwerelisteningtowhen

theywere12or13,thesamewayIwouldlistentorecordsby

BillEvans,ArtTatum,orMcCoyTynerwhenIwasakid."

Now that the Smashing Pumpkins farewell tour has

drawntoaclose,Garsonhasreturnedtohisprincipalpassion

ofthelastsevenyears:acompositionmethodhecalls"Now

Music." "Itsmy ownway of composing," he explains. "I sit

downataYamahaDisklavierandimproviseclassicalpieces.

It started as an exercise, but Iwound upwriting nocturnes

andpreludesineverykey,32sonatas,39rhapsodies,apiano

concerto. These pieces are entirely improvised, but they

soundwritten."

Garson was one of the first players to embrace the

Disklavier, a concert-quality piano that can record and play

backrealtimeperformances."Theconceptisabitsimilartoa

player piano, but you have infinitely better control and tone

because the recording method and the piano itself are so

sophisticated,"notesGarson."TheDisklavierchangedmylife.

WhenIusedtowritewithpencilandpaper,myheadalways

wenttoofastformyhand.ButinthelastfiveyearsIveman-

agedtowrite900piecesontheDisklavier."

AthomeGarsonusesatop-of-the-line9Disklavier,but

ontheroadwiththePumpkinsandothers,hereliesonacom-

pact GranTouchmodel. "TheGranTouch is a digital piano,"

he says, "but it has a real piano action, and the 32mg

memorymakesitthebest-soundinginstrumentofitstypeIve

heard.Andyoudonthavetodealwithmikingthepianolive

eachnight."

Even though leading classical players have performed

Garsonsimprovisedcompositions,Garsonsayshesreceived

staticfromsomesegmentsoftheclassicalcommunity:"Now

Musicfrightensthem.Oneclassicalpianistperformedoneof

mypieces,butafterIwenttothepremiereandtoldhimhow

Idwrittenit,helostinterest.Somepeopledontlikethefact

thatIcancomposeapieceinfiveminutes,buttheyhaveto

understandthatitsreallyfiveminutesplus48yearsofprac-

ticing.Therockpeopleunderstanditbetterthantheclassical

peopledo.ThatswhyIhangwiththem!"

ButGarson remains confident thatmanymusicianswill

soonembraceNowMusic:"Ithinkitwillbeamovementover

the next 20 years, like Impressionism or Romanticism or

Classicism.ImnotsayingImasskilledasMozartorLisztor

Debussy.Imjusttryingtocarryonthattradition.ButItellyou

ifthoseguyshadhadthetechnologyIhave,itwouldhave

beenscary!"HearsomeofGarsonsscariestsoundsforyour-

selfatwww.mikegarson.com.

WANT A CAREER LIKE MIKE GARSONS?

Playing piano for rock innovators Smashing Pumpkins,

Nine Inch Nails, and David Bowie collaborating with jazz

giants such as Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Clarke

composing hundreds of modern classical pieces?

practicemakesperfection

MIKE

GARS

ON

Mike also plays the S80, EX5 and CS6X

28 29yamaha all access winter 2k1