Julian Lage

Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage returns with Speak To Me, his remarkable 4th release for Blue Note Records following his acclaimed album View With A Room and it’s GRAMMY-nominated companion piece The Layers. Speak To Me finds the guitar virtuoso broadening his sonic palette with the help of esteemed producer Joe Henry (Rhiannon Giddens, Bettye LaVette, Meshell Ndegeocello, Allen Toussaint, Elvis Costello) 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 and keyboardist Patrick Warren.

Guitarist Julian Lage (“one of the most dazzling improvisers around”—NY Times) returns with a stunning new album View With A Room, the follow-up to his acclaimed 2021 Blue Note debut Squint, which the Associated Press called “an exuberant, engaging, endlessly inventive exploration of styles.” This time Lage expands his versatile trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King into a quartet with the addition of fellow guitarist and Blue Note labelmate Bill Frisell. 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 master guitarists seamlessly blending their unique 6-string styles.

A moody and evocative book of spiritual music passionately performed by the remarkable acoustic guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Gyan Riley, whose previous CD for Tzadik Nove Cantici per Francesco d’Assisi was universally acclaimed as one of Zorn’s most beautiful recent projects. Inspired by anchoress Julian of Norwich, a 14th century abbess and one of the founders of Christian mysticism, Virtue is marked by a stunning, seductive lyricism. Softly mystic music that is perfect for meditative late night listening on a cold rainy night, alone or with a loved one.

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 recorded during the same sessions which found Lage discovering new orchestrational possibilities by augmenting his deeply attuned trio of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King with the addition of guitar icon Bill Frisell. Intimate and gorgeous, exploratory and embracing, imbued with vibrant colors and exquisite interplay, 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.

Composed for a museum residency at the Frick in New York City, Nove Cantici is a beautiful suite of music inspired by the life and thought of the beloved spiritual fig- ure Saint Francis of Assisi. A fitting follow-up to the beautiful and moody acoustic guitar CD Midsummer Moons from 2017, here the astounding guitar duo of Julian Lage and Gyan Riley is expanded to a trio with the addition of legendary guitarist Bill Frisell. Ten lovely, spiritual compositions for meditation and contemplation performed by three of the most renown guitarists in the world. An essential release that will appeal to perhaps the widest audience Zorn has ever had.

Preceded by "Nove Cantici per Francesco d’Assis"” and "Virtue (for Julian of Norwich)", "Teresa de Avila" is the third and final CD in Zorn’s trilogy inspired by towering figures of Christian mysticism. Written for the all-star acoustic guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Gyan Riley whose performances are steeped in a feeling of love and mutual respect, the music is both beautifully simple and strangely complex, drawing equally on classical modernism, bluegrass, jazz, Jewish and renaissance music. Filled with compositional surprises, mysterious moods, beautiful harmonies and a stunning lyricism, Teresa de Ávila is a must-have for all fans of acoustic guitar music. This is one of the most personal and varied books of music Zorn has yet written—a lovely tribute to the enduring legacy of one of the world’s most beloved spiritual figures. Includes an extended appreciation by renown philosopher Arnold Davidson.