Although her life was cut painfully short, Amy Winehouse left behind an undeniably impressive musical legacy. Her songs have been covered by Prince and Arctic Monkeys, Jay Z has paid tribute to her with a remix of ‘Rehab’, and Ghostface Killah was so impressed by the lyrics of ‘You Know I’m No Good’ that he featured the track on his album More Fish.

Four years on from the British soul singer’s untimely death, Melbourne jazz band Movement 9 are offering a unique insight into her talent as a songwriter and lyricist with a reimagining of her music in a show lovingly titled We May Never Meet Again.

Movement 9’s musical director and saxophonist Joe McEvilly is the man behind the fresh approach to the Winehouse catalogue. “We are so pleased about how this show has been received so far,” he says. “Amy’s music is so revered, and we really wanted to honour her memory, so we couldn’t be happier.”

On the back of six sold-out shows at Melbourne’s Paris Cat Jazz Club, and armed with a freshly pressed EP of some standout arrangements, McEvilly and Movement 9 are taking their show on the road. We May Never Meet Again will have its Sydney premiere at Foundry616 this weekend.

“This has been such an incredible experience for us,” McEvilly says. “We’ve had a lot of fun and there’s been lots of quality band bonding time. We would like to take the show nationally, but taking ten people and all our instruments on tour is a pretty big call!” he laughs.

Elly Poletti, a two-time winner at the prestigious Bruce Awards for musical theatre, has taken on the difficult task of fronting the nine-piece band, and while her role is not to impersonate Winehouse, she captures the tone and essence of the iconic performer throughout. “Elly was the person I immediately went to when I was first considering this project,” says McEvilly. “I didn’t even know her very well at that stage, but I’d played with her a few times. She does a lot of big band singing, so I knew she had that power in her voice that we needed. Anyway, we met over coffee and it turns out she’s a huge Amy Winehouse fan, so she was keen to do it, and I’m so glad because now I can’t think of anyone doing it as well as she does – she’s amazing.”

Despite Winehouse’s tabloid lifestyle, We May Never Meet Again is all about the music. “There’s already so much discussion about her personal life, her addiction and the tragedy of it all. We want to highlight another part of her story that often gets overlooked: her ability as a songwriter. She told her story through the music – she had such a strong voice. One of the newest songs we do is ‘Help Yourself’ – it’s such an anthem of empowerment. Our arrangement is inspired by the music of Tower Of Power, the funk/soul group. Elly belts out the lyrics about standing up for yourself and having power in your relationship – it’s so much fun to play.

“We also do ‘Back To Black’, ‘Valerie’, ‘You Know I’m No Good’ and ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’. We do a version of ‘In My Bed’ that has a Radiohead influence – I know it sounds strange but it really works. In ‘October Song’ she talks about Sarah Vaughn, and her love of jazz shines through … Her music was so honest, it’s like a window into her soul.”

We May Never Meet Again photo by Olivia Chindamo.

We May Never Meet Again: The Music Of Amy Winehouse takes place at Foundry616 at Saturday July 25.

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