A brief look at music reimagined through jazz
On Nov. 13, Chicago-based jazz group, The Joe Policastro Trio, played at Silence. The show was an A-level display of music. The group, consisting of bandleader Joe Policastro on upright bass, guitarist Dave Miller, and drummer Mikel Avery, played a single set of jazz standards, originals, and reimagined versions of songs from film and television.
The group’s latest album, 2017’s Screen Sounds, is a collection of reimagined music from film and television, and was tapped into over the course of the night with performances of songs from The Godfather, Blade Runner, Yojimbo, and Twin Peaks. It was the group’s creative retelling of these songs that was most surprising, especially when Policastro’s upright bass played The Godfather’s iconic “Main Title and Love Theme” alone before the rest of the band joined in and turned the song into a completely different musical genre than the original. The group put these familiar songs into unfamiliar yet compelling territory. It was a highly creative approach brought to life by incredible musicianship.
In 2019, the band will release an album of original music entitled Nothing Here Belongs and hopes to play that year’s Guelph Jazz Festival in September. We hope so too.
Story & photos by Adam Maue