The songs of glam rock legend David Bowie filled Evanston SPACE on the eighth anniversary of his death Wednesday evening –– but these versions of his songs featured a unique twist.
The Chicago-based Metropolitan Jazz Octet, featuring Paul Marinaro, performed numbers from their 2023 David Bowie tribute album, “The Bowie Project,” treating concertgoers to a wide selection of jazz-inspired renditions of Bowie tunes.
The project started in 2019, when jazz vocalist Marinaro proposed a collaboration with the Metropolitan Jazz Octet, assuming the group would take on a project within its comfort zone — something within the jazz genre.
Instead, Jim Gailloreto, the leader of the octet, asked him for “the craziest idea in your head.” Marinaro remembers blurting out the first thing that came to mind: a tribute to David Bowie.
Gailloreto was on board, and “The Bowie Project” was born. Marinaro and Gailloreto designed the album to cover more than just Bowie’s commercial hits, tying the project together in a way that honors the late artist without imitating him.
While Bowie classics like “Changes,” “Space Oddity” and “Let’s Dance” are on the album, the group also included some deep cuts from Bowie’s repertoire, which runs more than 400 songs deep. For Marinaro, those decisions came down to the lyrics and the stories within the songs.
“Once I got into the songs that we chose, I realized that these are stories, and I’m a storyteller,” Marinaro said.
The group says the record reflects the times in which it was made. Recording each member’s parts separately during the COVID-19 pandemic, the group homed in on themes of isolation and loneliness in the songs they chose. Even as he recorded in isolation, Gailloreto said he felt a strong connection to his bandmates throughout the creation of “The Bowie Project.”
“There’s this thing that’s an umbrella over this whole project, and that’s the sense of group, the sense of family,” he said.
Wednesday evening’s show marked the fifth live performance of “The Bowie Project” since its release in January 2023.
The musicians connected with a wide range of fans from performing the project live. Some came to the show with little knowledge of Bowie, while others, like audience member and Chicago resident Christine Meissner, came as lifelong Bowie listeners.
“I grew up listening to David Bowie,” Meissner said. “My mom listened to him and kind of passed that down to me, so I’ve always appreciated his music.”
Throughout the performance, Marinaro made sure to emphasize Bowie’s prowess as a songwriter, explaining stories behind Bowie’s lyrics in between songs.
Concertgoer and Hyde Park resident Steve Barrett enjoyed learning bits and pieces of Bowie’s life story throughout the night.
“I didn’t really know the stories, but I didn’t even know the lyrics,” Barrett said. “I didn’t follow Bowie that closely at all, but I will now, because the lyrics are just amazing.”
Although the octet reimagined Bowie’s songs with a jazz flare, Gailloreto and Marinaro were determined to maintain the essence of what made those songs special to so many people.
“Having Bowie live again, in a different way, it’s amazing,” Gailloreto said.
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