METROPOLITAN JAZZ OCTET

During the Covid years, MJO partnered with Chicagoan and nationally acclaimed singer Paul Marinaro to record music that celebrates David Bowie’s song legacy. Their 2023 Origin Records release, The Bowie Project honors this legal while allowing a variety of improvisa-tional and jazz styles to shine through. With a career-spanning selection of songs such as Space Oddity, Changes and Let’s Dance along with early, deeper cuts including Conversation Piece and Letter to Hermione, The Bowie Project presents universal themes that resonate throughout the ages: love, loss, disil-lusionment, division and trying to find hope in a changing and unfamiliar landscape. Altogether, the album explores the durability and pure magic of Bowie!s songwriting. It’s reinterpretation without replication, due in no small part to Marinaro’s riveting vo-cals paired with sumptuous and compelling arrangements. The jazz octet palette maximizes transparency and intimacy, coaxing nuanced colors more indicative of a larger orchestra; a perfect complement to Bowie’s lyrics. When you can listen to the iconic “Space Oddity” and hear it anew – without a trace of irony – you know this project has met its goal.