PACAD225-ALL ACCESS/Winter NAMM · PDF filebefore Mick Ronson, BowieVs guitarist, said,...
Transcript of PACAD225-ALL ACCESS/Winter NAMM · PDF filebefore Mick Ronson, BowieVs guitarist, said,...
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