feature photo: Alysse Gafkjen
The prodigious guitarist Julian Lage just made a profile-raising move and jumped over to the fabled Blue Note Records. Squint will be his opening salvo for the label and that will drop on June 11, 2021. Ahead of this release, Blue Note is offering this advance track, “Saint Rose.”
Lage has been around a while but his style continues to get more distinctive. Certainly a harder, rock edge in tone in recent years but also brimming with subtlety. His composing style has progressed as well, with interesting melodic developments that stand on their own. You hear that all on display on “Saint Rose” with sturdy, groovy backing from long-time bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King.
Another indication of how much his sound has matured is how hard it much harder it is to neatly classify his music. Is this jazz? Rock? Folk? Does it really matter?
Those are often the same kind of questions asked about music from Bill Frisell or Lage’s one-time duet partner Nels Cline, two of the most original and widely respected guitarists today, so he’s in some hallowed company. And wouldn’t you know, Frisell and Cline both also Blue Note artists these days. Label boss Don Was seems intent on cornering the market on these elite six-string guys.
“Saint Rose” is now available for streaming. Pick out your favorite stream source and enjoy Julian Lage’s latest number from here.
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