Joel Garten
Encyclopedia
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
, jazz improvisor Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
and modern artists such as Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
and Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still
Clyfford Still was an American painter, and one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism.-Biography:...
. Most of his piano works are entirely improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
al and reflect a remarkably personal connection to his music. His work is noted by critics as being deeply reflective and heartfelt. There are those who also draw comparisons to the music of Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor
Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...
. Joel Garten has created a number of innovative works for prepared piano
Prepared piano
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
using paint brushes and other hardware on the strings of the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.
He studied experimental music under the tutelage of Toronto composer Martin Arnold. Garten's music was first produced by Jaymz Bee
Jaymz Bee
Jaymz Bee is a Canadian musician, writer and radio personality.-Personal life:Jaymz was born and raised in North Bay, Ontario. He is a graduate of Inglenook Community High School.-Early career:...
, a popular music producer and radio personality on JAZZ.FM91. He has performed in a number of cities in North America, as well as in the Registan
Registan
The Registan was the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand, now in Uzbekistan. The name Registan means "Sandy place" in Persian....
in Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
. He was also invited by rock musician Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
to perform at his studio The Warehouse, where Garten performed an hour long concert of his solo piano improvisations in 1999. Garten was also commissioned to write a work for Toronto's 200th birthday which he performed at Toronto's Casa Loma.
Garten was a curator in 2006 at an exhibit in the Echigo Tsumari Triennial in Japan, the largest international art exhibit in Japan. In addition to his art curation at the Triennial he wrote compositions that were inspired by his study of local folk music, which he performed in a solo piano concert in Hachi, Japan. He later performed these works in another solo piano concert at the Japan Foundation, Toronto. Garten performed an hour long solo piano improvised concert at the Tenri Cultural Institute in 2010. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Music Gallery, one of Toronto's premier New Music performance venues and institution.
"Joel’s multi-layered music sweeps you away. He paints rich and mysterious mental landscapes and magically creates awesome sculptural shapes in your mind’s eye that continually transform and mesmerize... This is like NOTHING you’ve ever heard!" - Jeanne Beker
Jeanne Beker
Jeanne Beker is a Canadian television personality, author and newspaper columnist, who covers fashion and lifestyle news for CTV's FashionTelevision, FashionTelevisionChannel, and The Toronto Star.-Family:...
, Fashion Television