Julian Lage Quartet

Though he is still a few years away from turning 40, Julian Lage has been an acclaimed guitar virtuoso for three decades. As a kid in California, so devoted to playing since the age of 5 that he deeply regretted the one day he’d been without his guitar, he was the subject of a documentary dubbed Jules at Eight. That’s the year he played with Santana but a bit before he appeared on the Grammys, still a preteen. But Lage has never rested on adolescent laurels, never settled into a predictable style. He has recorded explosive duets with bluegrass scion Chris Eldridge, led a crackling electric trio on Squint, supported Yoko Ono, and recorded two dozen albums with John Zorn. He is as energetic and expert as an improviser as he is as a collaborator.

But Lage made a remarkable step on 2024’s Speak to Me. After so many dizzying years of prolificacy and restlessness, Lage settled into a studio with 13 of his own songs alongside producer Joe Henry. They wanted these instrumentals to tell stories, whether it was the mystery and wonder of “South Mountain,” the tender ache of “Serenade,” or the slow sighs of “As It Were.” Henry encouraged Lage and his band to improvise in service of their songs, in search of their center; the results made for a record with both remarkable range and cohesion, like a wordless diary documenting the feelings and experiences of the day. The rather new Julian Lage Quartet pairs two of the guitarist’s consistent bandmates—bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Kenny Wollesen—with keyboard giant John Medeski, as Lage funnels recent lessons into his constant quest for what’s next.