Bowie's Piano Man with Mike Garson

In this episode Mike takes us to New York City in the 1960's, where he comes face to face with the likes John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Herbie Hancock. We talk about the impact these and other teachers had on his music, and how Mike's hands seem to know who is in the audience, even if he doesn't.

“Mike’s piano parts in Aladdin Sane changed my life.” --LADY GAGA

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Bowie album Aladdin Sane, which has been ranked by Rolling Stone and NME in the 500 greatest albums of all time, and in the top 100 albums of the 1970's by Pitchfork.

The follow up to the Ziggy Stardust album, Aladdin Sane is a tour de force for new band member Mike Garson, who moves effortlessly between styles and genres: from the Romantic era vocabulary of Chopin and Liszt to 1930's stride piano, to the album's title track, that many consider to be one of the greatest piano solos in rock music history.

Mike and I begin our conversation in the days leading up to the phone call inviting him to an audition for an artist he'd never heard of, for what turned out to be the Ziggy Stardust tour, and the start of a decades long collaboration and deep friendship with David Bowie that would encompass 20 records and over 600 live concerts.