Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage returns with his fifth Blue Note release, Scenes From Above, the follow-up to the GRAMMY-nominated Speak To Me, which was once again produced by Joe Henry. The album features Lage in a new band with John Medeski on organ and piano, Jorge Roeder on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums for a set of striking new original compositions.180g black vinyl.

Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage returns with his fifth Blue Note release, Scenes From Above, the follow-up to the GRAMMY-nominated Speak To Me, which was once again produced by Joe Henry. The album features Lage in a new band with John Medeski on organ and piano, Jorge Roeder on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums for a set of striking new original compositions. CD Softpak.

From Ike Quebec recommending Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell to Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff to Kenny Drew convincing every jazz star passing through Copenhagen to let Nils Winther record their shows, jazz labels have a rich history of receiving A&R help from musicians already on their label. So it was when Sasha Berliner raved about Norwegian guitarist Lage Lund. One quick listen to Lage's fluid, distinctive lines and exquisite taste on guitar and we were hooked. In classic JMI fashion, we matched him in a trio with other favorites we wanted on the label. Tyshawn Sorey on drums and Matt Brewer on bass had both made our list with knockout avant garde performances at New York's most active and searching venue, the Jazz Gallery. Lage's recording session, held one day after the David Murray session which produced JMI-10, was a dream. When we got the results, one of our first pressings from our new plant in Paris, we were gobsmacked. This record embodies the sound we've been shooting for since we started the label. The cover was shot in a bizarre, dedicated photo shoot by Roz Wertheimer.

Julian Lage - "Speak To Me" / Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable fourth release for Blue Note, which finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette in collaboration with esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage's trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage's longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also features contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and Kris Davis on piano. 2 LP set on 180gram vinyl Capitol Music Group; Blue Note; Jazz Artist Hometown: Santa Rosa, CA

Julian Lage - "Speak To Me" / Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable fourth release for Blue Note, which finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette in collaboration with esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage's trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage's longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also features contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry, keyboardist Patrick Warren, and Kris Davis on piano. CD Softpak. Capitol Music Group; Blue Note; Jazz

In 2021 Criss Cross owner Jerry Teekens called to ascertain Lund's interest in making another album. For Lund, 45 when the Most Peculiar session transpired in June 2022, the offer was an opportunity to reunite with a band he launched in 2014. Pianist Sullivan Fortner (35) and drummer Tyshawn Sorey (41), both among the most gifted practitioners ever to improvise on their respective instruments, contributed their unique mojo to Lund's 2019 Criss-Cross release, Terrible Animals. Virtuoso bassist Matt Brewer (39), played on Lund's first leader date in 2006, had Lund play guitar on his own Criss Cross debut (Mythology-Criss 1373), and recently played on a Lund trio covers recital. The Album was recorded June 17, 2022 at the Samurai Hotel Recording Studio in Astoria, New York. Recording engineer Mike Marciano also did the editing, mixing and mastering at Systems Two Studio in New York. Photography by Anna Yatskevich.

Terrible Animals is perhaps the most compositionally ambitious and daringly performed of Lage Lund's five albums on Criss Cross Joined by a never-before-convened, top-of-the-pyramid rhythm section (Sullivan Fortner, piano; Larry Grenadier, bass; Tyshawn Sorey, drums) the now 45 - year old presented ten far-flung originals that elicit the full measure of their creativity over the 68-minute program, spurring Lund - who makes ingenious use of effects within his flow - to some of his most dynamic and varied playing on record. The Album was recorded April 27, 2018 at the Systems Two Studio in NY. Recording engineer Mike Marciano also did the editing, mixing and mastering at Systems Two in NY. He also did the vinyl remastering. Cover drawing by Robbin Veldman.

2023 release. The Layers is a stunning companion piece to guitarist Julian Lage's acclaimed 2022 album View With A Room. The collection features six original pieces featuring the trio of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King with the addition of guitar icon Bill Frisell. Intimate and gorgeous, The Layers is a welcome additional offering from this meeting of two of modern jazz's most distinctive voices with one of the music's most skilled and inventive rhythm sections.

Vinyl LP pressing. 2023 release. The Layers is a stunning companion piece to guitarist Julian Lage's acclaimed 2022 album View With A Room. The collection features six original pieces featuring the trio of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King with the addition of guitar icon Bill Frisell. Intimate and gorgeous, The Layers is a welcome additional offering from this meeting of two of modern jazz's most distinctive voices with one of the music's most skilled and inventive rhythm sections.

2022 release. Guitarist Julian Lage discovers new possibilities with orchestration on the follow-up to his acclaimed 2021 Blue Note debut, Squintby, expanding his trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King with the addition of fellow guitarist (and Blue Note labelmate) Bill Frisell. A View With A Room presents 10 compelling new original compositions by Lage that explore a wide range of guitar sounds and textures with these two distinctive masters seamlessly blending their unique 6-string styles.

Vinyl LP pressing. Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage makes his Blue Note debut with an album that weds incisive, expressive songwriting with the profound interplay of his trio featuring Jorge Roeder and Dave King. The trio planned to record after a Village Vanguard residency in January 2020 but were delayed by the pandemic. Lage retooled the songs in light of the summer's lockdown and protests over social justice. By the time he recorded the album in August, the tunes had taken on a deeper air of mystery and searching.

Terrible Animals is perhaps the most compositionally ambitious and daringly performed of Lage Lund's five albums on Criss Cross. Joined by a never-before-convened, top-of-the-pyramid rhythm section (Sullivan Fortner, piano; Larry Grenadier, bass; Tyshawn Sorey, drums) the 39-year-old presents ten far-flung originals that elicit the full measure of their creativity over the 68-minute program, spurring Lund, who makes ingenious use of effects within his flow, to some of his most dynamic and varied playing on record.

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Modern Lore finds Lage playfully flipping the script he followed on his acclaimed 2016 Mack Avenue debut, Arclight. That album — produced, like Modern Lore, by Lage’s friend and collaborator, the singer-songwriter Jesse Harris — was his first trio set on electric guitar and found Lage inspired by the sounds and the attitude of the freewheeling, pre-bebop jazz era, when, as he puts it, “country music and jazz and swing were in this weird wild-west period.” This time he incorporates the sensibility, if not the outright sound, of early rock and roll, a similarly hybrid form driven by rhythm, personality and a passion for the electric guitar.

Modern Lore finds Julian Lage playfully flipping the script he followed on his acclaimed 2016 Mack Avenue debut, Arclight. That album - produced, like Modern Lore, by Lage's friend and collaborator, the singer-songwriter Jesse Harris - was his first trio set on electric guitar and found Lage inspired by the sounds and the attitude of the freewheeling, pre-bebop jazz era, when, as he puts it, "country music and jazz and swing were in this weird wild-west period." This time he incorporates the sensibility, if not the outright sound, of early rock and roll, a similarly hybrid form driven by rhythm, personality and a passion for the electric guitar.

Arclight, Julian Lage's Mack Avenue debut, marks his first recorded outing on electric guitar and in a trio format, backed by double bassist Scott Colley and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Like that titular intense white light, Lage is a performer who burns brightly.

Arclight, Julian Lage's Mack Avenue debut, marks his first recorded outing on electric guitar and in a trio format, backed by double bassist Scott Colley and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Like that titular intense white light, Lage is a performer who burns brightly.

Along with label mates Mike Moreno and Adam Rogers guitarist Lage Lund is one of the most distinctive guitarists on the current scene. His previous three Criss Cross dates have established his credentials as an up and coming talent of great promise. For his latest effort, he brings back to the fold his close associates Ben Street on bass and Bill Stewart on drums, both heard on Lund's previous sets, Foolhardy (CRC 1360) and Unlikely Stories (CRC 1321). The difference this time is that he forgoes the piano accompaniment for a bare bones trio approach that is quite refreshing and a further step forward. The mix includes a few originals and a nicely chosen selection of standards, including the iconic Bobby Hutcherson piece Isn't This My Sound Around Me.

On his third leader release for Criss Cross, guitarist Lage Lund returns to the quartet format that he navigated on the brilliant 2010 release Unlikely Stories (CRC 1321), recruiting young piano giant Aaron Parks to join world-class bass-drum partners Ben Street and Bill Stewart. It's another triumph for the 2005 Thelonious Monk Guitar Competition winner, who puts his lovely tone to work on a program of six originals and three off-the beaten track covers marked by informed harmonic dialogue, keen attention to melody, and an endless will to swing.

Guitarist Lage Lund made his first Criss Cross leader debut in 2008 with the brilliant Early Songs (CRC 1307). Paring down from a quintet to quartet, he returns with Unlikely Stories, a vibrant set of mainly original tunes with a superb supporting cast: pianist Edward Simon, bassist Ben Street and drummer Bill Stewart. The first-ever electric guitarist to attend Juilliard, Lund possesses a staggering harmonic sophistication and a singularly fluid voice as a soloist qualities that leap out on Unlikely Stories and, no doubt, on many more releases to come.