Murmures / Rumeurs

Mystical, introspective, spiritual and then suddenly angry, exalted, heretical, the music of Tom Bourgeois has something solemn and pagan at the same time. Everything is questionable in this fascinating double album which diverts from the single thought. Everything is delicacy and contrast. Nothing is ever all black, never all white. Nothing is ever all gray either. And Tom Bourgeois plays on this fragile balance. This double album is to be understood as a mirror: two line ups, two discs, "Murmures" and its (almost) anagram "Rumeurs", in which each title responds to its counterpart on the other disc. On the first CD, "Murmures", four musicians accompany the saxophonist: Lois Le Van (voc), Thibault Dille (acc), Florent Jeunieaux (l) and Veronika Harcsa (voc) as a guest, who makes a few forays, as to prepare us for “Rumeurs”, the second CD, where we find the same musicians to which are added Thomas Mayade (tp), Quinten De Craecker (tb), Ruben Verbruggen (as, bs), Esinam Dogbatse (fl , perc), Dorian Dumont (p), Victor Foulon (cb) and Jelle Van Giel (dm). Behind some titles, we can recognize Ravel ("Sonatine II"), influences from Tom Yorke ("La tête dans la radio" and "La radio dans la tête"), John Dowland ("Tell Me, True Love" and “Love, Tell Me The Truth”), and references to The Wire series, the points of view of two lovers. We walk from renaissance and baroque to jazz, from improvisation to chamber music, with sometimes some points of blues and dislocated swing. It could be fun finding the commonalities or the differences between the two sides of this double disc, but it is better to let oneself be carried away by the murmurs - or the rumors - of these enigmatic musical stories.