REVERSO
Ever since American jazz became old enough to carry a passport, French composers were ready to absorb lessons and borrow licks from the exciting new avant-garde style. That enthusiasm was reciprocated by jazz musicians elated to be treated with dignity, and eager to explore the blithe melodies and beguiling harmonies that came so naturally to French composers. A musical conversation started at that time continues to this day in the music of Reverso, the trans-Atlantic collaborative of American trombonist Ryan Keberle and two French artists, pianist Frank Woeste and cellist Vincent Courtois.
From the start, Reverso has fashioned vibrant projects in response to the canons of swing-besotted composers like Maurice Ravel, Darius Milhaud, and Francis Poulenc, while also mining rich lodes of inspiration in the sublime music of Gabriel Fauré. Now, with Shooting Star–Étoile Filante, Reverso pays homage to Lili Boulanger, a composer no less significant than the group’s previous subjects, but far less widely recognized.
Born Marie-Juliette Olga Boulanger in August 1893, Lili was the younger sister of one of the most formidable musical figures of the 20th century. Nadia Boulanger, a renowned composer, conductor, and pedagogue, taught multiple generations of American composers, from Aaron Copland and Elliott Carter to Philip Glass and George Walker. Remarkably, Lili showed even more originality and promise as a composer, until her career was cut tragically short by the illness that claimed her life in 1918.
“We were looking for an inspiring French composer, and Lili Boulanger is a fascinating composer in many ways,” Woeste says of the group’s latest subject. “She was the first female composer who won the Prix de Rome. She was extremely talented, and recognized as such by her peers. She also had a ferocious will to keep composing and creating until her tragic death at only 24 years old.”
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2024/02/08 ALL MUSIC GUIDE | LINK