{"id":144525,"date":"2024-06-19T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=144525"},"modified":"2024-06-18T17:02:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T00:02:04","slug":"review-julian-lage-speak-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/review-julian-lage-speak-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Julian Lage\u2019s \u2018Speak to Me\u2019 Is a Deep and Multifaceted Album from the Young Master"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It hasn\u2019t been easy keeping track of the still-young jazz giant Julian Lage the last five years. Prolific in the extreme, he has released trio albums featuring him on electric guitar along with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King (Love Hurts<\/a><\/em>, 2019; Squint<\/a><\/em>, 2021); a set of stunning acoustic duets with guitarist Gyan Riley playing Jewish folk\u2013inspired pieces by John Zorn (The Book Beri\u2019ah Vol. 4\u2014Chesed<\/a>,<\/em> 2019); the trio (with Lage again on electric) augmented on a handful of compositions by guitarist Bill Frisell (View with a Room<\/a><\/em>, 2022); an EP addendum to that project that includes a couple of tracks of Frisell and Lage playing acoustic (The Layers<\/a><\/em>, 2023); and a masterful acoustic trio date with reeds legend Charles Lloyd and Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain (Lloyd\u2019s Trio of Trios<\/em>, 2022). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Julian-Lage-Speak-To-Me<\/a>
Julian Lage, Speak to Me (Blue Note Records)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019ve been out of the Lage loop or you\u2019re simply Lage-curious, his latest album, Speak to Me<\/a><\/em>, feels like the perfect vehicle to explore his seemingly boundless talents as a player, collaborator, and composer. The 13-track, one-hour set covers an amazingly broad range of styles and different instrumental configurations, including solo acoustic; the trio with Roeder, King, and Lage playing either electric or acoustic (and both on one composition); and several pieces where the sound is further filled out with contributions from Levon Henry on saxophone or clarinet, Patrick Warren on various keyboards, and Kris Davis on piano. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brilliant musician\/producer Joe Henry (Solomon Burke, Aimee Mann, Allen Toussaint, Bonnie Raitt, Rhiannon Giddens) helmed the sessions at Brooklyn Recording (engineered by Mark Goodall) and expertly captured every nuance of the undeniable chemistry of the different groupings. Lage wrote the entire album\u2014the bones of the tunes\u2014but it is the combined improvisational wizardry of the players, listening to each other and reacting, following the collective muse, that makes this set so compelling and exceptional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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