CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Mike Garson has been celebrating the late David Bowie since 2017. And he hasn’t allowed a pandemic to stop the festivities.
The pianist -- who played in Bowie’s bands from 1973-2004, the longest tenure of any musician with him -- began with live shows featuring alumni from those groups along with guest singers. Last year, he pivoted to a virtual show, and this year -- on Saturday, Jan. 8, what would have been Bowie’s 75th birthday, he’ll do the same, joined again by alumni as well as the likes of Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, members of Duran Duran, Noel Gallagher, Rob Thomas, Living Colour, Walk The Moon, Gary Oldman, Ricky Gervais, David Sanborn and others.
Garson’s latest “A Bowie Celebration” also comes just a day after the release of “Toy: Box,” an expanded edition of the unreleased 2001 Bowie album that came out in November as part of the “Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001)” box set. The projects are continuing testimony that we can’t get enough of Bowie, even in absentia, and Garson -- speaking via Zoom from his studio in California -- is more than happy to serve that appetite...
Has it been easier putting the virtual show together this year than it was last year?
Garson: Oh, you’re always sitting there, worrying, but musically things are great, and you learn from some of the mistakes from last year and apply those lessons. I’ve had to learn a new way of communicating. Last year, because of COVID, I couldn’t be in the same room for all the final mixes, so there were things left out that I would have liked to have been in and that drove me insane and I could not appreciate the show. A few weeks later I could watch and realize that “Oh, the audience doesn’t know about any of this. This is all in my head.” But I still want to make good on that and do better this year. It’s sort of that, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and I’m actually enjoying it.
What kind of approach did you take for this year’s show?
Garson: I wanted half new songs that I didn’t do last year. I wanted half new artists, but I wanted some of the ones who wanted to come back and do it again. And I wanted to see if I could have three or four bands, not just individual artists, so this time we have Def Leppard, we have Walk The Moon, we have Living Colour. That’s nice because then it’s a BAND playing David’s music, not only my alumni. Some are collaborations -- I’m playing piano with, for example, Walk The Moon or Living Colour, very cool actually. If I don’t keep it fresh for myself I sort of want to kill myself so. I tried to make it shorter, too, 90 minutes. But you know me -- I keep finding more things I want to put in so, yeah, (it will be) three hours... (laughs)
Any particular highlights emerge so far?
Garson: I’m trying to make half the songs sound like the record for people who just need that, but I’m trying to make some new arrangements of things. I took one piece...I have a jazz singer, Gretchen Parlato, she’s nominated for a Grammy and her husband, Mark Guiliana, played on (Bowie’s final album) “Blackstar.” I thought, “Well, she’s kind of esoteric...What if I have her do ‘Starman’ and I can change the chords and do what’s called a reharmonization and bring in a string quartet. Can it work?” In theory, it felt so good to me.
It’s a tightrope, isn’t it?
Garson: If you think about it, myself as a jazz musician we would play standards that were from Broadway shows, Thelonious Monk tunes. A thousand artist have played “‘Round Midnight,” right? Why not do that with Bowie songs? Some might sound left field...and whether it goes over or not hardly matters to me, ‘cause I love the process. You’re either out of your mind or you’re creative, and with me it’s both. (laughs) Those who do resonate with it will get a big kick out of it, and certainly David would’ve.
Duran Duran’s version of “Five Years” was a highlight last year, so it’s cool you have some of them returning.
Garson: It really wasn’t my plan, ‘cause they’re such a busy group and I didn’t want to impose. John (Taylor) is a friend of mine and I just called. He said, “Well, it’s probably too late to get the whole band together, but me and Simon (Le Bon) would like to join,” which is great.
You’re going to acknowledge the 35th anniversary of the “Labyrinth” film that David starred in, too.
Garson: Y’know, I didn’t like that period -- which just shows you that you don’t really know what you don’t know. (laughs) So there was some humility that kind of woke up in me and superseded the arrogance of “F*** that s***! I don’t want to do it!” I realized “As the World Falls Down,” it’s a good song. It’s more of a novelty, but we arranged a whole new vibe with that song, featuring the piano and vocals, and I love it. It’s beautiful. And we interviewed (Jim Henson’s son) Brian, who was a kid at the time, but he did some of the voices for the puppets as a youngster, and it was a lovely conversation. He told us some great stories.
At what point will you start to consider whether you can take the Celebration back on the road, maybe in ‘23?
Garson: I’ve been offered a lot of gigs. I miss the complete live experience, but I had to let that go because it’s just not happening. It just takes one gig to get canceled and the tour goes topsy turvy, financially. I toured for five years and I made zero, you know. I love the music, and I want to tour but I don’t want it on my conscience or feel like people are getting sick at my expense, because I want to play music. I want to make sure everything is right. And, y’know, being a little older and enjoying being with my wife and my two daughters and seven grandkids, I just don’t want to be a road rat anymore. Instead of 100 shows a year I’d like to do 20 great ones, bigger ones and potent ones. So, we’ll see.
How do you feel about David’s “Toy” album seeing the light of day after all these years?
Garson: I love that album, and I was very pissed off that the record company passed on it. You don’t pass on a David Bowie album! He was upset, but within months (the songs) were all online. I’ve been hearing those songs for 20 years. People get ahold of everything, y’know, one way or another. But I’m so glad it’s coming out now.
What do you remember about the sessions?
Garson: It was very free-flowing, playing live together in the space. We’d just come off a tour, so we were in good shape. The camaraderie was great. David was in good spirits, healthy, joyful. Everything was just the way you’d want it to be. Mark Plati, who was part of the band then, did a really good job producing with David. It was a great experience.
“Toy” is an interesting album in that a lot of songs were remakes of material from the earliest days of his career -- which seems odd for David, who was always looking forward?
Garson: I liked the fact that he was being respectful to his earlier catalog, but I wasn’t a big fan of some of those older songs. I love “Conversation Piece” and “Shadow Man,” but, no I didn’t like the songs. But I figured, “You know, we’re a good band, we’ve been on the road for months and months, let’s make it better than when he was a kid writing them.” And I think we did. They’re not “Life on Mars” or “Space Oddity”' but they’re good. They’re fun.
“A Bowie Celebration” premieres at 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8, and will be available for 24 hours. $25 and up via rollinglivestudios.com.
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