Metropolitan Jazz Octet Reimagines David Bowie Songs at Space Jan. 10

Chicago, Ill. — In January 2023, the Metropolitan Jazz Octet and vocalist Paul Marinaro teamed up to release The Bowie Project, a new album from Origin Records that dared to re-imagine David Bowie’s music through the lens of chamber jazz. And by doing so, the Metropolitan Jazz Octet and Marinaro created a project that transcended the sum of its parts.

Now, a year after that album’s release — and two sold-out shows at Studio5 in Evanston and one at City Winery in Chicago — the Metropolitan Jazz Octet and Marinaro are back to perform these new takes on Bowie’s music again, this time at Space in Evanston on Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 to $35.

The album reinterprets many of Bowie’s classic songs, including “Let’s Dance,” “Changes,” and “Space Oddity,” into fluid, fully orchestrated jazz pieces, honoring Bowie's lyrics and melodic/harmonic complexity while using the octet palette to paint with intimate, nuanced colors.

The idea for the project began a few days after Bowie’s death in 2016, when both Marinaro and Jim Gailloreto, co-founder of the Metropolitan Jazz Octet, each began listening to Blackstar, an album showcasing Bowie’s back catalogue of songs.

“It stopped me in my tracks,” Marinaro says of the Blackstar album.

By 2018, Marinaro began to occasionally perform Bowie’s evocative lament, “5:15 The Angels Have Gone,” in an arrangement crafted by guitarist Mike Allemana. At the same time, Marinaro and Gailloreto began discussing working on a joint project together, and Marinaro suggested his “probably crazy idea” of tackling Bowie’s repertoire. Gailloreto agreed, saying he was excited to both have the chance to work with Marinaro and to adapt Bowie’s well-known songs to the Metropolitan Jazz Octet’s soundscape.

According to the album’s liner notes, written by Chicago jazz writer Neil Tesser, “In the arrangements and orchestrations, Gailloreto, [MJO co-founder John] Kornegay, and their team of arrangers steer clear of what came before; for his part, Marinaro hasn’t tried to emulate Bowie at all. Pretend you’ve never heard these songs in the first place and allow these artists — modern masters of the genre Bowie once studied, and always respected — to recast his repertoire, illuminating even his darker songs in light of recent events.”

Tickets and are on sale now at EvanstonSpace.com.

The Bowie Project: The Metropolitan Jazz Octet Featuring Paul Marinaro

Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $20 to $35

Where: Space, 1245 Chicago Ave., Evanston, IL 60202

Info: 847-492-8860 or EvanstonSpace.com

About Metropolitan Jazz Octet

The Metropolitan Jazz Octet (MJO) is the reawakening of a group that was originally started in the 1950s by Chicago saxophonist and arranger Tom Hilliard. From the late 1950s through the mid-1980s, Hilliard wrote many of MJO’s compositions and worked with Chicago’s top arrangers and studio musicians to expand the library to 150-plus charts. The new version of the MJO was founded in 2014 by Jim Gailloreto, John Kornegay, Peter Brusen and John McCortney, three of whom were students of Hilliard’s and who received his complete library. Today, the MJO is made up of some of the most talented jazz musicians in Chicago and has a repertoire that spans the history of jazz, as well as unique and fresh contributions to the ongoing spirit of jazz.