Julian Lage has shared the details of his new album called Speak to Me.
Set to be released March 1, the guitarist’s latest recording is his fourth for Blue Note Records and his third in as many years; it follows 2023’s The Layers, which was a companion piece to 2022’s View With a Room.
Produced by Joe Henry, Speak to Me is an intimate recording that offers “a series of dispatches from his ongoing search for narrative beyond words,” according to a media release by Blue Note. The 13-track set of original music is inspired by a wide range of American music including crossing gospel, blues, folk and jazz.
Listen to the newly released tracks “76” and “As It Were” today:
Speak to Me showcases the guitarist in a variety of settings, including solo acoustic, duo, his established trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King, and a larger ensemble with keyboards (Kris Davis and Patrick Warren) and woodwinds (Levon Henry).
“Throughout my life, I’ve always responded to music that has a narrative quality to it,” Lage says of the new release. “I believe there is a kind of connective tissue that music has, and it’s important, and it’s fun to cultivate.”
Here’s the track listing:
- Hymnal
- Northern Shuffle
- Omission
- Serenade
- Myself Around You
- South Mountain
- Speak to Me
- Two and One
- Vanishing Points
- Tiburon
- As It Were
- 76
- Nothing Happens Here
Julian Lage’s Speak to Me is out March 1, 2024, on Blue Note Records.
