Guitar / Electric Guitar

Julian Lage

(1987–)

United States

Julian Lage (b. 1987) — Guitar, Electric Guitar. Led Sounding Point, Arclight, Squint. Worked with Jorge Roeder, Eric Harland, Taylor Eigsti.

Recognized as a prodigious talent from childhood, Lage has grown into an adult voice that moves freely across jazz, bluegrass, and country. His touch is beautiful and his musical sincerity comes through in every note. There is no cynicism in his playing — only honest engagement.

Julian Lage's leader album

Arclight

Julian Lage · 2016

Squint

Julian Lage · 2021

Julian LageJulian Lageジュリアン・ラージ was a child prodigy featured in a documentary at age eight, and played with Gary Burton in his teens. After a long gestation, ArclightArclightJulian Lage · 2016 (2016) established his own voice. He moved to Blue Note, and Squint Squint SquintJulian Lage · 2021 (2021) deepened his concise, lyrical guitar language further.

— Jules at Eight (documentary), Mark Becker, 1996

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Julian Lage's albums

Julian Lage's videos

2011, Julian LageJulian Lageジュリアン・ラージ at 23 with his trio. The lightness-and-weight that defines his later work is already audible. Material from 'Gladwell' plus unreleased songs.

— Julian Lage Trio: Tiny Desk Concert, Patrick Jarenwattananon, 2011

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Jorge Roeder

Videos featuring Julian Lage

Julian LageJulian Lageジュリアン・ラージ's Squint, with Jorge RoederJorge Roederホルヘ・ローダー and Dave King, was his Blue Note debut. In DownBeat he explained that to make a single Telecaster sing more than an acoustic, he redesigned his picking, holding the pick shallow to let the strings' overtones do the work.

— Julian Lage: A Clear-Sighted Squint, DownBeat, 2021

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Jorge Roeder

In the DownBeat profile that gave the article its title, Julian LageJulian Lageジュリアン・ラージ articulated a "touch and voice" philosophy of treating guitar like a wind instrument. For him, the ends of phrases are everything, and vibrato is applied to breath rather than to notes.

— Julian Lage: What Are You Transmitting?, Premier Guitar, 2021

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Peruvian-born Jorge RoederJorge Roederホルヘ・ローダー is the longtime bassist in Julian LageJulian Lageジュリアン・ラージ's trio. He supports Lage's Telecaster-centered sound with restrained walking and skillfully placed feature solos.

— Julian Lage: A Touch and a Voice, DownBeat, 2021

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Jorge Roeder

Julian Lage's albums

Voyager

Eric Harland · 2010

Arclight

Julian Lage · 2016

Squint

Julian Lage · 2021

Speak to Me

Julian Lage · 2024

Julian Lage is known today for restrained trio records like Arclight, but he was already famous at eight years old: the 1999 short documentary Jules at Eight, which followed him at that age, received an Academy Award nomination. He wasn't discovered as an adult — the country had already found him as a child.

Julian Lage's albums