I really would have loved to see David Bowie perform live once. Unfortunately, that never happened. I have followed Bowie's musical footsteps since the late '70s. That was the period when I really started to take an interest in music. So I have to make do with everything he left behind, and that is a great deal.
David Bowie
David Robert Jones, better known by his stage name David Bowie, (London, 8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016) was a British singer, songwriter, music producer and actor. He is considered one of the most influential rock musicians from the 1960s to the present day.
David Bowie became famous through worldwide hits such as Space Oddity, Changes, Life on Mars?, Ziggy Stardust, Let's Dance, Absolute Beginners and Heroes. Bowie also performed several successful duets including Under Pressure (with Queen), Dancing in the Street (with Mick Jagger) and Tonight (with Tina Turner). Additionally, he was known for his various images, which were particularly eccentric during his glam rock period in the 1970s. Besides his career as an artist, Bowie was also an actor in various films and a producer for other artists.
On 10 January 2016, Bowie passed away in New York, two days after his sixty-ninth birthday and following the release of his album Blackstar. His death was unexpected for the media, fans, colleagues and even most of his friends. On the night of his passing, Bowie's wife Iman tweeted the phrase "The struggle is real, but so is God," indicating a struggle with death. The news of Bowie's death was also announced via Twitter by Bowie's son Duncan Jones, who stated that he "unfortunately" had to confirm his father's passing. On 18 September 2016, pop journalist Lesley-Ann Jones wrote in the British tabloid Mail on Sunday that Bowie had staged his own death. She based this on statements from former BBC presenter Andy Peebles and producer Simon Napier-Bell. Apart from the fact that this newspaper is generally regarded as a populist paper with many showbiz rumours, it is unlikely that Bowie chose the moment of his death himself. There is no evidence for this, and statements from others in Bowie's circle of friends contradict it. Producer Tony Visconti, who produced Bowie's last album as well as many others, said in an interview that Bowie had even called him a week before his death to discuss recordings for a next album. Bowie told him that in the preceding months he had recorded five demos of new songs in his own home studio. This suggests that Bowie certainly did not foresee the exact moment of his death. Although Bowie carefully organised his farewell, it seems he did not plan his death itself.
In the summer of 2014, Bowie discovered he was suffering from liver cancer. However, Bowie kept his illness completely out of the public eye. Only those he worked with directly knew about it. For most music critics, it only became clear after Bowie's death that the album Blackstar contained numerous concrete references to his impending death in the lyrics, the album cover design and the music videos. Especially the video for the song Lazarus can, in hindsight, be seen as a kind of swan song.
Top 2000
In the 23rd edition of the Top 2000, Bowie is featured with the following entries:
Sunday Morning Classic: Blackstar
On 18 October 2020, David Bowie was our guest at The Sunday Morning Classics with his final and remarkable album Blackstar.
Tracks with plenty of jazz influences on his 26th album Blackstar, the successor to the unexpectedly released The Next Day. Featuring an outstanding band including McCaslin, Mark Guiliana (drums), Jason Lindner (keyboards), Tom Lefebvre (bass) and Ben Monder (guitar). All men who have already earned their stripes in the worldwide jazz scene, with Lindner, with his wonderfully expansive keyboard work, and Guiliana, with his brilliant beats, as standard bearers of the New York jazz-meets-electronic scene. Lefebvre's steady bass, Monder's sometimes driving, sometimes spacious guitar work, and McCaslin's saxophone sounding better than ever make this new series of Bowie songs the most adventurous he ever made.
The title track with its super inventive drumming, that strange keyboard playing with its unexpected electro rhythm, the strong guitar work and the beautiful sax make the song, before its unpredictable transformation, a wonderfully adventurous piece. It is an impressively structured composition with a beautifully singing Bowie who remains captivating despite its length. The track driven by a wonderfully pumped-up beat and at the end wildly veering off, Sue (Or in a Season of Crime), with a Bowie sounding more than ever like the late Scott Walker, and ‘Tis Pity She Was A Whore come across even better in their new, super driven versions.
But it is precisely songs like the excellent Lazarus, the super catchy Girl Loves Me and the beautiful Dollar Days that convince greatly. Album closer I Can’t Give Everything Away (with an exploding Monder) is just as convincing. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Bowie himself is still incredibly good in voice and just as grand as the aforementioned musicians. Incredible when you consider that Bowie had been around for some five decades and certainly did not let the life of a rock ’n’ roll star pass him by.
Of course, Blackstar did not become a jazz album but a true Bowie album full of alternative rock. But then played by jazz musicians who always challenge themselves and approach the genre in a challenging way. With his new album, David Bowie makes it very clear that he still has the right ear for truly innovative music. He does a great service to the young jazz-meets-electronic scene and to music in general. Blackstar is an excellent album and a new high point in his oeuvre.
The album was released on 8 January 2016, Bowie's 69th birthday, two days before his death. Producer Tony Visconti stated that this album was intended as a farewell gift for his fans in a carefully planned finale.
Source: Jan Liebregts and Wikipedia Photo: AVRO and Les ZG
https://www.davidbowie.com
