At the age of 23, only having played the saxophone seriously for 3 years, Tim Garland was asked by Ronnie Scott to "lock horns" in a series of gigs around northern Europe and the UK. Since then he has played with most of the UK’s leading lights in modern jazz, including Peter King, Stan Tracey, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Jim Mullen, Jean Toussaint and Tommy Smith. In 1995 he concluded a short tour with a concert at the Wigmore Hall with Ralph Towner.

After studying composition with Robert Saxton at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he went on to become band leader of several projects, most notably Lammas, whose four albums and several awards show Garland’s compositional skills as well as his playing, and also his influences outside of the jazz mainstream. He has also had much experience in big bands, including both the London Jazz Orchestra and the Dankworth Generation Band, and has written and recorded for both of these, as well as being featured recently with the BBC Big Band.

Garland is currently Chick Corea's tenor player and splits his time between New York and London.