Avant Garson

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Avant Garson

Overview
Avant Garson is the debut solo album by American jazz pianist Mike Garson. It was released in 1980 on Contemporary Records and was recorded on November 20–21, 1979 at Love Castle Studios in Los Angeles. The album is a suite of solo piano pieces that showcases Garson’s wide range, from melodic tunes to more adventurous, avant-garde improvisations. It features Garson’s original compositions along with a few jazz standards.

Track listing (all compositions by Mike Garson unless noted)
- Portrait of Chick
- Someday My Prince Will Come (Larry Morey, Frank Churchill)
- Jennifer
- Avant Garson Part I
- Classical Improvisation with a Jazz Flavoring and a Touch of Jewish in D Minor
- Jewish Blues
- Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg)
- How Deep is the Suppression
- Avant Garson II
- One Light Aesthetic Wave
- Chopin Visits Brooklyn
- Avant Gershwin (George Gershwin, Garson)

Personnel
- Mike Garson – piano

Reception
- AllMusic gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, calling Garson’s debut a display of virtuosity and versatility, with music that ranges from melodic to adventurous and avant-garde.