Tom Garvin (4 Feb 1944 - 31 Jul 2011) was a highly regarded
jazz pianist, accompanist, arranger, composer, lyricist, and producer.
Born in Petersburg, Virginia, his parents divorced when he
was young, and his mother did clerical work while they lived with his
grandmother. As a child, he received a key gift from his mother which was a toy
piano. From then on, Garvin wanted to be a musician. After earning a degree in
music composition at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute in the mid-1960s, Garvin
served as a pianist-arranger in the Army Field Band. ![]() |
| Garvin with Mitch Mitchell |
After moving to Los Angeles, he relocated to New York City
for a couple of years before returning permanently to LA. There he became
well-known as a first-call accompanist for jazz singers. Tom enjoyed a rich
musical career performing and recording with countless artists and bands
including Yolanda Adams, Art Farmer, Jack Jones, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae,
George Mraz, Lou Rawls, Estelle Reiner, Michal Urbaniak, Bill Watrous, Phil
Woods, Sy Zentner, and The Tonight Show.
Garvin's melodic and inventive arrangements and compositions were sparked with
fresh and unpredictable ideas. His self-styled, creative solos were memorable
and his genuine and authentic critiques made him one of a kind. Here's "Autumn in New York" from above album.
In 1972, Garvin began writing songs for the Tonight Show
Band with Doc Severinsen and eventually composed dozens of tunes for the TV
program. “I’d just write them and send them in,” Garvin told The Times in 1992.
“I went in once and watched Doc rehearse one of my tunes, and he was
excellent.… So I thought, ‘Hey, I don’t need to be here.’ Such public reticence contributed to Garvin’s relatively low
profile outside of the jazz community. A fixture on the Los Angeles jazz scene,
Garvin was “one of our town’s better jazz pianists,” reported The Times.
Garvin was instrumental in helping ITI Records establish
itself in 1982. He was also instrumental in recording alongside other ITI
alumni: Ruth Price, Mike Campbell, Mike Stephans and the Seventh Avenue Band,
Lou Rovner and Estelle Reiner. Garvin performed
and taught master classes all over the world. In 1997 he was commissioned to
compose some music for The Utah Symphony. The lack of visibility was surprising given his musicianship
and “articulately crafted keyboard style,” Heckman wrote in a 2001 Times review
of a performance that featured such standards as “I’ll Close My Eyes” and “I
Fall in Love Too Easily.” Briefly married, Garvin tended to name many original
tunes after the women he dated and his close friends. His oeuvre included
“Mitch,” “Talara,” “Elaine” and “Jane.”
Garvin was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, from which he succumbed to
on July 31, 2011, at an assisted living facility in Encino, Los Angeles,
California. He was sixty-seven.
(Edited from Los Angeles Times, Bandcamp & Wikipedia)
