DESCRIPTION:
Interview of Clifford Slapper by Tom Wilcox at London launch of "Bowie's Piano Man: the life of Mike Garson" by Clifford Slapper (Fantom, 2015). Includes 8-minute message filmed by Mike Garson in LA and screened as part of this event; also contains live piano played by Clifford Slapper. French House, Soho, London, April 2015. The book is the first ever biography of Mike Garson.

"...I'm very pleased to say that 'Bowie's Piano Man', my biography of Mike Garson, has been picked up by a major American publisher and will now be published in a completely new and much expanded edition throughout the USA, early in 2018. Backbeat Books is a top firm specialising in serious and in-depth musical biographies, and is a subsidiary of Hal Leonard, the world's biggest publisher of sheet music. That is very apt, because as a child, learning the piano myself, I well recall seeing the words 'Hal Leonard' printed on the front page of each sheet of Chopin or Beethoven I studied. Then, at age 11, I discovered both David Bowie and his pianist, Mike Garson, when I bought my first album, 1973's 'Aladdin Sane'. I was hooked for life, and decided then to become a pianist myself, always inspired by Mike Garson's approach.

Having gone on to work as a pianist, years later I ended up working closely with Bowie too, playing for him on his last ever television appearance in 2006. I also got to know Mike Garson well. I asked him if there was a biography of him I could read, as he has had such a fascinating life. He replied, "No, but I think you'd be the perfect person to write it!" I started work that day. He said he would only trust a fellow pianist to write the story of his life, to explain his approach to music and creativity, and the secret of his special artistic bond with Bowie. In 2015, "Bowie's Piano Man: the life of Mike Garson" was published in the UK, and was very well received by readers and reviewers worldwide.

The 2018 new American edition will have six new chapters, a new preface, new interviews (eg Billy Corgan, Ken Scott, George Underwood) added to the dozens included previously (eg Tony Visconti, Trent Reznor, Earl Slick); and explores the effect on Garson last year of having lost his friend and musical accomplice of so many years, David Bowie. My labour of love continues, documenting the work and the life of my friend and mentor, my fellow pianist, the master musician who has inspired me throughout my life."
Clifford Slapper, September 2017