What happens when you recognize someone without knowing them? A taste of love. And what could be even softer, than if this encounter is evoked by music? We can all envy Tom Bourgeois to have encountered the compositions of Lili Boulanger (1893–1918) this way. But we can also thank him for transforming this meeting into a tribute album of rare intensity. Through 14 titles, the composer and saxophonist does not only offer a sensitive interpretation of the work, he goes even further by exploring the echoes of this music – written a century ago – can have with his own approach. Thus, musical colors and a certain form of lyricism constitute the common markers of an eminently current landscape, which Bourgeois has already explored with his numerous other projects (including Murmures, Moanin’ Birds, Rumeurs or solo).

The result is a type of music that sometimes draws on jazz, sometimes on contemporary music, but without merely just creating a collage. On the contrary, it is rather the singularity of a coherent voice which forms this alliance. Tom Bourgeois offers us paradoxical music with Lili, very constructed and also free at the same time. A very alive sound reminding us that love transcends gender and years. He had already carried out this same type of work with Maurice Ravel, via a “reinterpretation” of the String Quartet on his double album Murmures (2018). This type of rewriting is aimed at making the music resonate differently. And most certainly, to pay homage to Lili Boulanger.

The material was also released on CD in collaboration between Igloo Records and BMC Records, in April 2025.

Photo: Tibor Radványi