SEU JORGE, "A LIFE AQUATIC" TRIBUTE TO DAVID BOWIE

Inside the Beacon Bar a small school of red-capped cosplayers darts in and out of the after-work crowd. At the end of the bar I sit facing a large square pillar making the most of my long figure to catch the eye of a busy bartender. “Looks like the line is dying down,” a guest says to his companion. “I suppose we should go on in.” This is how one prepares for a concert in Manhattan. I order a Sancerre and pay the check, move out into the warm September evening, then, once the line is completely gone, step into the Beacon Theater.

Dotting the audience are more red knit caps - a quirky homage to the crew of the Belafonte, the fictional ship in Wes Anderson’s morbidly ironic “A Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.” The film, a silly favorite of mine, features a number of performances by a relatively unknown artist, Seu Jorge. The songs, David Bowie classics sung in Jorge’s native Portuguese and reanimated with Brazilian ease were a bright spot in the film and became their own album in 2005. Tonight, twelve years later, Mr. Jorge is in New York to revive his tribute to the late Mr. Bowie, a series that has for the first time brought these renditions to the stage.

A short introduction from a costumed stage-hand is accompanied by an overpriced Heineken at the concession stand. Mr. Jorge takes the nautically decorated stage and commences directly with the iconic opening guitar passage of “Ziggy Stardust.” Simplicity will be a theme of the evening.

The sound is full and immediate. Warm nylon strings strummed and slapped by confident hands provide plenty of rhythm creating a surprisingly complete sound for a solo performance.

Where the film and album versions of these songs are reserved, intimate, and almost timid (likely a product of his unfamiliarity with the material - he recalled to the audience hearing “Rebel Rebel” only fifteen minutes before being asked to perform it on set) this performance was full of the virility and exuberance at the heart of Jorge’s Brazilian recordings.