Julian Lage - Speak To Me (2024) [Hi-Res]

Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage has announced the March 1 release of Speak To Me, his vivid and wondrously textured new Blue Note album produced by Joe Henry which offers a series of dispatches from his ongoing search for narrative beyond words. Intimate in tone and capacious in intention, the music travels a wide range of American music, and delights in the deliberate crossing of wires between gospel hymn and rural blues, California singer-songwriter sunshine and skronky jazz. The 13-track set of new Lage originals is introduced today with a 2-track single pairing the hard-driving, bluesy “76” with the atmospheric acoustic ballad “As It Were.” The album also includes the previously released single “Omission,” a reverent tune imbued with a pastoral swing. Speak To Me showcases the guitarist in a variety of settings, including solo acoustic, duo, his accustomed trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King, and a larger ensemble with keyboards (from Kris Davis and Patrick Warren) and woodwinds (Levon Henry). It’s Lage’s fourth effort for Blue Note, and it’s part of a torrent of creative activity that includes his participation in Charles Lloyd’s Trio of Trios project and records with Terri Lynn Carrington, John Zorn, and Cautious Clay.

Julian Lage (guitars)
Jorge Roeder (bass)
Dave King (drums)
Kris Davis (piano)
Levon Henry (sax)
Patrick Warren (keyboards)