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David Bowie Jazzed: Ten Essential Bowie Covers

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By Ian Patterson
August 28, 2024
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Always go a little further into the water than you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don't feel like your feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about in the right place to do something exciting.
—David Bowie

One of the measures of a great artist is the number of covers they have inspired. Covers of David Bowie songs are not in short supply; Blondie, The White Stripes, The Cure,

Philip Glass

composer / conductor
b.1937

" data-original-title="" title="">Philip Glass, Nirvana, Bauhaus, The Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name just a handful, have all paid homage to the great pop iconoclast, who died in 2016. So too have a host of jazz musicians. The following is not meant in any way as a definitive list, but simply an entr��e to some of the brilliant— and highly diverse—jazz versions of Bowie tunes out there. If you have your own favorite please share in the comments section below.

1. Pachora: "The Man Who Sold The World"

New York quartet

Pachora

" data-original-title="" title="">Pachora features

Chris Speed

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Speed on clarinet,

Brad Shepik

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Brad Shepik on tambura,

Jim Black

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Jim Black on drums, and

Skuli Sverrisson

bass, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Skuli Sverrisson on bass. From its album Ast (Knitting Factory, 2000), Pachora brings a driving Eastern Mediterranean/Balkan feel to this Bowie track from 1970. Speed is absolutely on fire from first minute to last.

2. Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet: "Bring Me The Discoking"

Dutch saxophonist

Yuri Honing

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Yuri Honing's Acoustic Quartet is one of the great unsung ensembles of modern jazz, with a string of outstanding albums under its belt. Joining Honing on soprano saxophone are drummer

Joost Lijbaart

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Joost Lijbaart, double bassist

Ruben Samama

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Ruben Samama and

Wolfert Brederode

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Wolfert Brederode on piano. Their take on Bowie's "Bring Me The Disco King" (recorded by Bowie in 1993 but not released until 2003) captures the sumptuous lyricism of the original, while framing the song in an entirely fresh light. From the album True (Challenge Records, 2012)

3. Bojan Z: "Ashes To Ashes"

Serbian pianist

Bojan Z

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Bojan Z, a long-term resident of France, tackles Bowie's 1980 number 1 hit single "Ashes To Ashes." A highlight among many from the pianist's album Xenophonia (Label Blu, 2006), Z draws out the beauty and the strangeness in this iconic song.

4. Donny McCaslin: "Warszawa"

Saxophonist

Donny McCaslin

saxophone, tenor
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Donny McCaslin had already been around the block a few times when he came onto David Bowie's radar, having spent four years in

Gary Burton

vibraphone
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Burton's band after graduating from Berklee in 1987. Fast-forward to 2014, Bowie catches McCaslin's band in New York's 55 Bar and, duly impressed, invites them to play on what would be his final album, Blackstar (Sony Music, 2016). Later that year McCaslin released Beyond Now (Motema Music, 2016), which featured Bowie's "Warszawa." This darkly soaring, ambient piece, co-written by

Brian Eno

synthesizer
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Eno, was the opening number on Bowie's 1978 world tour. What a spell it must have cast on unsuspecting audiences! McCaslin, drummer

Mark Guiliana

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Guiliana,

Nate Wood

drums
b.1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Nate Wood on bass and keyboardist

Jason Lindner

keyboards

" data-original-title="" title="">Jason Lindner do the honors.

5. Brad Mehldau: "Life on Mars?"

One of contemporary jazz' most sensitive and intuitive interpreters, pianist

Brad Mehldau

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Brad Mehldau is as much at home covering Radiohead,

The Beatles

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">The Beatles or Nirvana as he is dissecting jazz standards. From the 4-CD box set10 Years Solo Live (Nonesuch, 2015), Mehldau digs deep on Bowie's "Life on Mars?" from Hunky Dory (RCA, 1971). The pianist on the Bowie original was Rick Wakeman, who would do his own solo version on Piano Portraits (Universal Music Group, 2017).

6. Laila Biali: "Let's Dance"

Multi-award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter/pianist

Laila Biali

piano and vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Laila Biali turns to Bowie's "Let's Dance," from his multi-million-selling album of the same name. Biali had half a dozen albums to her name when she made her eponymous debut on Siggi Loch's ACT label (2018). From that album, her bold interpretation of Bowie's mega-hit (here played live) underlines her credentials as a vocalist, pianist and conceptualist of note.

7. Wired Paradise: "Space Oddity"

The second entry on this list to feature Dutch saxophonist Yuri Honing, the de facto leader of Wired Paradise. Recorded live in Serbia, Honing is joined by

Joost Lijbaart

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Joost Lijbaart on drums,

Mark Haanstra

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Mark Haanstra on bass and

Stef van Es

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Stef van Es on guitar. If you like this, check out White Tiger (Jazz In Motion Records, 2010). Recorded live, mostly in Mumbai, the title is inspired by Indian author Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize-winning novel, White Tiger (2008). Both book and album are recommended.

8. Federica Zammarchi: "Lady Grinning Soul"

With Jazz Oddity (La Frontiera, 2011), Italian singer Federica Zammarchi dedicated an entire album to the music of Bowie. "Lady Grinning Soul," one of Bowie's most lyrical and sensuous songs, is given a moody ballad treatment by Zammarchi, with sympathetic accompaniment from pianist

Enrico Zanisi

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Enrico Zanisi, drummer Emanuele Smimmo (mostly on brushes), bassist Marco Sinisalc} and

Antonio Jasevoli

guitar, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Antonio Jasevoli, whose acoustic guitar quietly sparkles. Zammarchi beguiles with her bluesy shading and soulful delivery.

9. Delta Saxophone Quartet: "The Laughing Gnome"

"The Laughing Gnome" was a novelty single—somewhere between a catchy children's song and Syd Barrett pastiche—that failed to chart for Bowie in 1967. Upon its release in 1973 it climbed as high as number 6 in the UK pop chart, riding the wave of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" success. Perhaps only an ensemble with the imagination of the

Delta Saxophone Quartet

" data-original-title="" title="">Delta Saxophone Quartet could pull off the feat of making this innocuous Bowie tune sound so charming, so vital. On Bowie, Berlin & Beyond (FMR Records, 2018) the DSQ's Graeme Blevins (soprano), Pete Whyman (alto), Tim Holmes (tenor) and Chris Caldwell (baritone) explore Bowie's collaborations with

Brian Eno

synthesizer
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Eno—"The Laughing Gnome" and

Ryuichi Sakamoto

composer / conductor
1952 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" being the two outliers. A fascinating album of arresting harmonies and riveting interplay.

10. SLIX: "Heroes"

Not a jazz ensemble strictly speaking, but German a cappella sextet

SLIXS

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.2012

" data-original-title="" title="">SLIXS has played jazz festivals around the world, toured with

Bobby McFerrin

vocals
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Bobby McFerrin, and wowed every kind of audience with its lush harmonies, grooving rhythms and improvisational panache. "Heroes" is one of Bowie's most covered songs, with Nico, Peter Gabriel, Coldplay, Oasis, Depeche Mode, Moby, Mot?rhead, and

King Crimson

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">King Crimson all producing highly personal renditions. But SLIX might just steal the crown for the most original—and most beautiful—version, from the album Playgrounds (Herzog Records, 2017) Katharina Debus, Michael Eiman, Gregorio Hern��ndez, Karsten M��ller, Thomas Piontek and Konrad Zeiner—vocal heroes one and all.

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