NEW YORK — His talent at the piano has taken Mike Garson from his Brooklyn childhood to a stage he shared for forty years with David Bowie, even recently to Mars.
Yes, Mars.
His band and singer Yungblud performed Bowie’s "Life On Mars" for NASA to celebrate the Perseverance Rover's landing.
“The NASA people asked us if it lands -cuz they weren't sure-can we play this piece at the end of the show and it was, of course, our pleasure,” says Garson, sitting at his piano for our interview over Zoom.
The piano continues to be a constant comfort for Garson, especially during the pandemic. He says he’s spent 15 hours a day playing music.
“In actual fact, the piano's been healing me since the day I started playing,” he says.
That's why Garson likes to talk about Playground Sessions, an app co-owned by Garfield High School grad Quincy Jones that makes learning to play the piano fun.
"There's these background tracks of great musicians so you could be playing one or two notes if you're a new student and you think you're Toscanini or something,” Garson says.
Garson is a jazz pianist who can play anything in any style, which is why he played with David Bowie longer than any other musician. Whenever Bowie changed his sound, Garson could always adapt.
“I was only actually hired for eight weeks and I ended up being with him all those years,” says Garson.
Mike Garson is proof you're never truly alone when you have an instrument you can play.
Learn more about Playground Sessions via their website. You can also read more about Garson in his memoir.
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