Julian Lage

Trained on guitar from an early age in the Santa Rosa area of California, Julian Lage developed an intense relationship with jazz and improvised music during his childhood, documented as early as the late 1990s in the film “Jules at Eight.” Later established on the American scene, he attracted attention for his work alongside vibraphonist Gary Burton before leading his own projects, in which the language of jazz blends with folk, bluegrass, country and chamber music influences. His debut album as a leader, Sounding Point (2009), laid the foundations of a highly melodic approach, followed by Gladwell (2011) and the acoustic solo World’s Fair (2015). With Arclight (2016) and Modern Lore (2018), Lage asserted a compositional focus on the guitar–double bass–drums trio, while Love Hurts (2019), and then Squint (2021) and View With a Room (2022) on Blue Note deepened an aesthetic that is both contemporary and rooted in American traditions. At the same time, he has pursued numerous duo and small-group configurations—working notably with Nels Cline, Chris Eldridge and Fred Hersch—and joined ensembles led by John Zorn and Charles Lloyd, embedding his playing in a network of collaborations spanning contemporary jazz and roots music.