Speak To Me

Overview:

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.

Featured Tracks:

1 Hymnal (Lage)

2 Omission (Lage)

3 Northern Shuffle (Lage)

4 Myself Around You (Lage)

5 Serenade (Lage)

6 Speak To Me (Lage)

7 South Mountain (Lage)

8 Vanishing Points (Lage)

9 Two And One (Lage)

10 76 (Lage)

11 As It Were (Lage)

12 Tiburon (Lage)

13 Nothing Happens Here (Lage)