Piano Music of Mike Garson (2022)
When Danny Holt first heard Mike Garson’s music, it was as if it reached out of his stereo speakers and grabbed him. Mike Garson is perhaps best known for his relationship with David Bowie, which began in 1972. He made his mark on numerous Bowie albums and traveled thousands of miles on tours spanning more than four decades, including Bowie’s first and last performances in the U.S.
Holt and Garson first crossed paths in 2004 when Holt was a graduate student at CalArts, but it turned out Mike had actually heard his playing in a competition he adjudicated several years prior. Garson even helped produce Danny’s first album Fast Jump, also released through innova. Garson and Holt shared a musical kinship, and that relationship has led them to this album, The Piano Music of Mike Garson.
Mike Garson and Danny Holt also share in common a voracious appetite for new music and monster piano technique. Garson developed a compositional process that favored first take improvisational works composed in real-time with the help of a Disklavier that facilitated that monster technique. Holt’s playing and Garson’s music both have a wonderful sense of immediacy, of aliveness, of being on the edge. All of this comes together to form a perfect pairing, and the first time anyone has recorded an album of Mike Garson’s solo piano works.
“Rampaging art-rock gives way to thorny Ligeti-esque interludes, labyrinthine passages that could be Schumann or Janacek, insistently rhythmic moments that come across as High Romantic Steve Reich, and a warmly inviting nocturne or two. Needless to say, Garson’s skills creating this kind of intensity out of thin air are undiminished, and Holt deserves equal credit for having both the good taste and chops to deliver Garson’s icepick left hand and intricately harmonized two-handed passages with equal flair and precision”
“Mike Garson’s musical universe is both strange and familiar at the same time. The man best known as David Bowie’s ‘Piano Man’ (he recorded more than 15 albums with him) has always had a firm footing in classical music. Pianist Danny Holt has the reputation of being a performer of exceptional technical ability...he breathes a hectic life into these pieces while maintaining a technical precision so impeccable that it must be exhausting.”
“On this album the virtuoso playing is a fine match for Garson’s big, bold writing, creating a wonderful wash of sound as captivating for the immediacy of the solo instrument as it is in the quality of both writing and performance. Garson draws on a wide range of influences, both classical and beyond, and Holt turns them into a tour de force”
“A thought-provoking, entertaining release...These performances are, in a sense, recreations of recreations, and they’re thrilling, Holt always knowing just how far he can push the tempi in the faster pieces...Holt’s virtuosity is dizzying throughout.”
“Along with his brilliant technique, Danny Holt is able to imbue each composition with a distinct character. He gets exactly the right rhythmic feeling for jazz and pop oriented works, yet brings a wide dynamic range and sophisticated voicing to more complex selections...multi-leveled, even transcendent virtuosity. A major and, needless to say, unique piano release, not to be missed.”
“Not only do the pianists Danny Holt and Mike Garson comprise a mutual-admiration society that goes way back, but they also share production credits on this album, a sure sign that Garson has given Holt’s interpretations the seal of approval.”
“Piano Music Of Mike Garson is a true labour of love...a highly impressive record that captures perfectly that free-form compositional vision that Garson sees, lives and breathes within his music 24-hours a day...Holt’s mammoth effort to translate at its very best Mike Garson’s musical career especially of last 3 decades, is a joy to listen to and a triumph for the American virtuoso pianist. Hard work and talent always paid off, a motto that Garson himself has lived on his own skin throughout his whole life and career, just as well as Danny Holt is doing right now, through this stunning record.”
“Did you know that Bowie’s Piano Man—that would be Mike Garson—is also one of the hottest composers on the planet? His volcanic imagination embraces all musical styles, only to be matched by his extraordinary keyboard technique. Then along comes Danny Holt, who absolutely hits it out of the park with his exuberant recording of this stunning music. Together, they’ve created a sparkling new vision for the future of the piano. Put on your seat belts - it’s an amazing ride...!”
Featured on Apple Music’s “New in Classical” Playlist: “Classical music is constantly evolving: The oldest compositions are subject to fresh interpretation, while the space for new compositions remains as dynamic as ever. In that spirit, here’s a playlist of all the best new classical music—from contemporary recordings of older works to new works pushing the conversation forward.”