This Is Not David Bowie

When the Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet reflects on David Bowie, it is about far more than a tribute to a rock icon. Bowie symbolizes an artistic attitude here: the constant urge to change, to break open boundaries, and to connect different worlds.

For Yuri Honing, Bowie was an important source of inspiration from an early stage. Not only because of the music, but especially because of the uncompromising way in which he continuously reinvented himself. At a time when many artists allowed themselves to be defined by expectations or genres, Bowie demonstrated that being different could actually be a strength. He turned change from a risk into an artistic principle.

That attitude strongly resonated with Honing’s own development. Even before music became central to his life, he was involved in the visual arts — painting, later sculpture — and he devoured books. Out of that broad cultural curiosity, his musical path also emerged: from jazz to improvisation, from pop and rock to non-Western music, classical influences, and electronics. Again and again, he sought out collaborations and new forms, not out of stylistic restlessness, but from the conviction that music must remain in motion.

Bowie served as an important example in this respect. Not only artistically, but also socially. His open perspective on identity, his sensitivity to the spirit of the times, and his ongoing search for innovation made him much more than just a musician for many people. He addressed themes that would only become widely felt years later. Honing also admired Bowie’s efforts to create space for African American artists, for example by publicly confronting MTV about its lack of diversity. For someone who grew up with American jazz music, that natural openness and cultural cross-pollination felt essential.

The relationship between the quartet and Bowie therefore is not about nostalgia or simply performing repertoire. The Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet is not trying to imitate Bowie. The strength of this music lies precisely in reapproaching his work through its own musical language.

In this process, the so-called “reworks” method plays an important role. Fragments of Bowie’s compositions, harmonies, atmospheres, or artistic ideas are used as starting points for new pieces and interpretations. Sometimes a melody remains clearly recognizable; sometimes only the spirit of a song can still be felt. The focus is less on reproducing songs and more on exploring what Bowie represented artistically: freedom, transformation, and the bringing together of different influences.

That starting point lives throughout the entire quartet. The four musicians share a fascination with artists who refuse to be confined to a single style or identity. Bowie’s ability to continuously create new artistic contexts — while surrounding himself with exceptional musicians — also serves as a source of inspiration for them. Within the quartet, this creates a tension between composition and improvisation, between recognition and alienation, between intimacy and experimentation.

Their love for Bowie had already surfaced in earlier projects by Yuri Honing, including interpretations of songs such as ‘Bring Me the Disco King’ and ‘After All ‘— the latter has meanwhile been streamed millions of times. On the album ‘This is not David Bowie,’ that fascination reaches a new level. Not as a retrospective tribute, but as a search for what still makes Bowie relevant today.

Ultimately, this project is not only about Bowie himself, but about the question of how art can continue to move forward. How music can forge new connections without losing its own identity. And how an artist, just as Bowie once did, can remain faithful to curiosity and imagination — especially in a world that is constantly changing.