Julian Lage Clinic

When Julian Lage '08 emerged on the music scene 13 years ago, the young San Francisco Bay Area musician was not only deemed a guitar-playing prodigy but offered record deals on numerous occasions. Playing a unique style that melded blues, classical, folk, and jazz influences, Lage decided to wait for the right moment to document his own music. He chose instead to become a sideman with established instrumentalists like Gary Burton and to collaborate with contemporaries such as pianist Taylor Eigsti. Along the way, Lage received recognition from musical luminaries, including Herbie Hancock and Béla Fleck, and patiently waited until he was ready to go into a studio with a band of like-minded players to realize his own musical vision.

Now the time has come. At the age of 21, the Boston-based Lage released his debut album, Sounding Point, on EmArcy Records, an imprint of Universal Records. The music ranges from composed works and impromptu improvisations in duo and trio settings to solo excursions and a finale capped by a masterful rendering of Miles Davis's "All Blues." Lage also delivers impressively original covers of Elliott Smith 's "Alameda" and Neal Hefti's "Lil' Darlin'."