From left: John Cameron Mitchell, David Poe, Gail Ann Dorsey, and Donny McCaslin.
David Bowie’s final album Blackstar was released to critical acclaim on his birthday in early 2016, mere days before his death. The album has loomed large in the imagination of Bowie fans ever since, partially due to the timing and the record’s thematic focus on mortality and the passing between phases and places, but also because of its daring fusion of alternative rock, jazz, and electronic textures.
Blackstar Symphony: The Music of David Bowie, a collaboration between the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and a number of musicians who played with Bowie over the years, was filled with the exhilarating tension between being and becoming. The show, conceived by artistic director and jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin (who played on the original Blackstar album), was envisioned as a new organism based on the DNA of the original record.
While the show focused on Blackstar, even running through its songs in order, it was anything but cursory. A host of orchestrators, which included Blackstar alumnus and frequent Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti, endowed the original material with new dimensions. Keyboardist Jason Linder, who also played on the original Blackstar, colored every song with unique synthesizer sounds that both stood out and meshed with the orchestra’s tidal ebbs and flows. The entire jazz-rock portion of the ensemble played with a mix of respect and flair that couldn’t have been easy to strike. Drummer Nate Wood was precise and loose; bassist Jonathan Maron could have easily been drowned out by the orchestra, but he played notes that danced around the bass from the symphony. McCaslin’s sax was excitable and gentle — at times both a hissing and purring cat.
Often, marriages between rock artists and classical ensembles are uneasy or unfulfilling ones. That wasn’t the case with Blackstar Symphony. The SLSO wasn’t playing some sort of elevator music take on the original. Instead, along with McCaslin’s group, it moved with the grace of a seal in the sea — offering soothing respites in otherwise angular songs, and roughing up some of the original album’s more straightforward numbers.
In addition to all of Blackstar, the show featured a selection of other Bowie songs that were given the show’s exploratory and adventurous treatment. “Life on Mars?” was full of the original’s transgressive glory, and was transformed into a Gershwin tour de force by McCaslin’s group and the orchestra. “Where Are We Now,” from Bowie’s penultimate album The Next Day, was mournful yet hopeful, a perfect salve for the uncertain times we live in. “Space Oddity” was perhaps the most by-the-book interpretation of the evening, but its universal appeal was a true crowd pleaser. The official portion of the show closed with a stirring rendition of “Heroes,” one of Bowie’s most iconic songs.
Another of the show’s innovations was featuring three different vocalists, each of whom contributed different textures. David Poe lent rock power to the songs that needed a jolt; John Cameron Mitchell (co-creator of the iconic, Bowie-inspired Hedwig and the Angry Inch) imparted his inimitable glam flair to the show’s artier songs; Gail Ann Dorsey’s vocals were soulful and soaring. Most fascinating were the songs that combined the distinct tones of all three. Dorsey in particular stole the show, her vocal and instrumental versatility, along with her stage presence and emotional impact, showed why she was such a vital piece of Bowie’s band for over two decades.
Orchestra union regulations prevented a full encore, but McCaslin and the rest of his band came back out for a couple of raucous, joyful bonus songs. The remaining artists romped through “Let’s Dance,” while Mitchell hammed it up in brilliant fashion on “Rebel, Rebel,” even venturing out into the crowd, to great acclaim. They even lured conductor Tim Davies out to play woodblock on both songs.
Bowie fans never got to see a Blackstar tour. This show offered them a tantalizing glimpse into what that could have been like. McCaslin, the SLSO, and everyone involved honored and elevated Bowie’s legacy. I think he would’ve appreciated how the show wasn’t a timid tribute, but instead something of a celebration of life, an opportunity for closure, and a reimagining worthy of an artist who reveled in reinvention. | Mike Rengel
