Virtuouso Julian Lage takes his guitar around America

The new album from guitar virtuoso Julian Lage is Speak To Me, and it takes its inspiration from all around America. It’s a beautiful collection of tunes that tells a story of how music across that huge country has changed and continues to mutate.

The Blue Note album Speak To Me features Kris Davis (piano), Patrick Warren (keyboards, piano and dolcitone), Kris Davis (piano), Levon Henry (clarinets and saxes), Dave King (drums) and Jorge Roeder (bass and vibraphone). Meanwhile, Lage himself switches effortlessly and engagingly between acoustic and electric guitar.

 

There’s a truly joyous shift of tone from a gospel hymn and rural blues to straight-ahead jazz and ballad.

The solo Myself Around You is a particularly virtuosic example of Lage at his most creative and almost mesmeric. It’s easy to get lost in this track as it floats dextrously  across a melody that cries out for lyrics, or at least for an explanation of its story,

 

“Throughout my life, I’ve always responded to music that has a narrative quality to it,” Lage says, explaining that he sees his recent compositions as less a departure than an extension of originals from previous albums, notably his 2021 Blue Note debut Squint. “I believe there is a kind of connective tissue that music has, and it’s important, and it’s fun to cultivate.”