Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage shares "Boo's Blues," the second song from his soon-to-be-released 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 titans 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.”
New Music Monday for April 12, 2021
The newest recording from renowned guitarist and composer
Roni Ben-Hur includes a fascinating collection of “Stories” from his genre-busting 40-year multicultural musical journey. “Recording ‘Stories’ has been a unique and very fulfilling experience,” the Israeli-born Ben-Hur says, “allowing me to incorporate songs I loved since my childhood, and ones that speak to social issues that are important to me.” Joining him is the legendary George Cables on piano, esteemed trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, and the steadfast rhythm section of bassist Harvie S and drummer Victor Lewis.
The legendary Hammond B3 organist
Dr. Lonnie Smith has recorded over 30 albums as a leader, but his favorite setting to document his creativity is live. During the 2017 celebration of his 75
The Julian Lage Trio: Dave King, Lage, and Jorge Roeder.
A few years ago, guitarist Julian Lage changed the personnel in his sterling trio, forging a rugged yet pliable bond with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King.
This band released a fine album,
Love Hurts, on Mack Avenue in 2019; at the time, we featured a video in Take Five. Now Lage and his band mates are back with a new batch of tunes and a new label affiliation. Their album
Squint will be released on Blue Note Records on June 11. Its first single, Saint Rose, is out today in digital form.
Shai Maestro made a splash with his 2018 label debut (and fifth LP overall)
The Dream Thief. That means the follow-up needs to consolidate his stance as a young lion, a task which
Human fulfills. Backed by his regular trio with bassist
Jorge Roeder and drummer
Ofri Nehemya, and joined by guest trumpeter
Philip Dizack, the Israeli native wields expansive playing and lyrical melodics for a session that fits in well with ECM’s “chamber jazz” aesthetic.
Favoring a bittersweet flavor, Maestro injects enough melancholy moodiness into his melodies to keep any of them from inducing toothaches – cf. “Hank and Charlie,” a beauteous ballad informed by the spiritual duets performed by key inspirations
Joe Lovano Trio Tapestry: Garden of Expression review – a jazz unit with total empathy John Fordham
The Cleveland-raised saxophonist Joe Lovano comes from a jazz tradition that extols blowing a lot of notes, fast and loud. He grew up on his saxophonist father’s stories of what it felt like to jam with John Coltrane, but also in a Sicilian-American household that revered the operatic tenor legend Enrico Caruso – experiences that nurtured an appreciation of virtuosity and the subtleties of nuance and timbre. Now, after more than four jazz-star decades that have seen him considered one of Sonny Rollins’ heirs (and a collaborator with originals from Bill Frisell and Elvin Jones to Esperanza Spalding), Lovano’s Trio Tapestry explore delicate distillations of the musical resources that all three members have often individually set loose with warp-speed intensity.