Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage has shared “Boo’s Blues,” the second song from his Blue Note Records debut album, Squint, out June 11. The loping swing feel of “Boo’s Blues” exemplifies Lage’s ability to write with his bandmates in mind while echoing his influences: “I like to imagine this music being played by the tans of bass and drums,” Lage says. “I’m imagining Billy Higgins, I’m imagining Art Taylor, I’m imagining Wilbur Ware, even though I’m writing explicitly for Dave and Jorge.”
Squint is a striking full-length that weds incisive, expressive songwriting with the profound interplay Lage has honed over the past few years with his de trio featuring bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King (The Bad Plus). The album was heralded last month with the release of the album’s lead single “Saint Rose.” Squint is available now for pre-order on vinyl, CD, or download.
“I absolutely love improvised music, and I’ve always been fascinated by singer-songwriter music,” says Lage. “For me, the jazz that came out of Blue Note always engaged both sides of that. It had incredible improvisational vocabularies and performances, but when I think of albums from Grant Green’s Idle Moments to Joe Henderson’s Inner Urge to McCoy Tyner’s Time for Tyner with Bobby Hutcherson – all these records that I love so much also have such great songs. I felt like this was an opportunity to present new music born out of the Blue Note tradition as I’ve interpreted it.”
Lage was recently featured on the GRAMMY Museum’s COLLECTION:live interview series, watch here. The guitarist will also be continuing his popular series of masterclasses with upcoming sessions on April 11 and April 18. A 30-minute solo performance will follow each class. Tickets are available here.
