Being Bowie: Vincent pays tribute to late legend's music

Singer joins Oregon Symphony to offer British star's works

Tony Vincent calls himself “the biggest Anglophile living in New York City,” loving The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and bands such as Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure.

Oh, and a certain legendary singer who died earlier this year — David Bowie.

“David was hugely influential on my music,” Vincent says. “I grew up listening to him almost as much as The Beatles. To sing his iconic songs and to present his music in a grandiose and epic way, it’s quite a thrill.”

Honoring the late singer, Windborne Productions and composer Brent Havens, who have put together several rock symphonies, organized the show “The Music of David Bowie” and hired Vincent to do the singing.

The show stops in Portland to play with the Oregon Symphony, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets start at $35; for more: www.orsymphony.org.

The reaction to the show — it’s not a tribute show with costumes and such, but a tribute to the music — has been positive in the wake of Bowie’s death and mourning by his many fans.

“There are two things that I hear over and over: People never realized how much of his material they knew, and thank you for bringing the material in such an honest way,” Vincent says.

“He would be so proud of this. But, that is a testimony to the talent of the musicians I’m with. Windborne pulls no punches; everything we do is of the highest caliber.”

Vincent has worked on stage productions with Green Day and Queen in the past — he has mostly a theater background — and he competed on the singing reality show “The Voice.” He has done a lot of things and has thoroughly enjoyed himself in the past several months singing Bowie.

“His catalog is vast,” he says. “We’d be making missteps if we didn’t play songs people knew, the hits. That resonates with audience

members.”

The Ziggy Stardust-era songs and others such as “Blue Jean,” “China Girl” and “Major Tom” go over well with crowds. “Ashes to Ashes” and “Life on Mars” are two of Vincent’s favorites. (The group doesn’t perform from Bowie’s final album, “Blackstar”).

“I try to bring the authenticity of his music, which would ring true to audiences,” Vincent says. “I’m such a fan of English music, the way I even sing is influenced by British rock artists.”

Vincent has studied Bowie’s history and talks about the man, his life and his musical adventures during the show. “He had a graciousness and respect for other people,” he says, “a generous spirit about him. It was one of the things that made him a unique artist.”

And, Bowie’s music touched people. “This longing or searching for something greater than us as humans,” he adds. “He’s not talking about an enamored position of space and final frontier, but something greater than we can be as humans, something outside of ourselves.”

Bowie is a reason he loves British music.

“It’s something that touched the sort of melancholy side that we all can have. That’s what David presented, not overtly melancholy, but he asked questions or challenged the normal train of thought,” Vincent says. “American artists don’t do that very well — they’re incredibly talented in their own right — and perhaps it’s the environment British tend to have — darker or more introspective.”

On another note: There will be a tribute to David Bowie, “Blackstar Rising 2,” 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at the Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 N.E. Alberta St. Several Portland musicians collaborate to play the music of David Bowie’s final album and other albums. Tickets are $15 in advance, $25 at the door. For more: www.albertarosetheatre.com.