Julian Lage

Julian Lage was born on December 25, 1987, in Santa Rosa, California, the youngest of five children. His father, Mario, was a visual artist who valued artistic expression. Lage began playing guitar at age three and performed alongside Carlos Santana at age eight in Concord, California. The 1996 documentary Jules at Eight chronicled his early talent and received an Academy Award nomination. He studied classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and later pursued composition at Sonoma State University under Randy Vincent and at the Ali Akbar College of Music.

At age twelve, Lage performed on the Grammy Awards telecast in 2000 with a youth ensemble, playing “Straight, No Chaser” with a solo that impressed vibraphonist Gary Burton. Burton became his mentor and major collaborator throughout his career. By age fifteen, Lage taught at the Stanford Jazz Workshop. In 2003, Burton recorded Generations, his first of four albums featuring Lage, launching the guitarist professionally at age sixteen. Lage’s recorded debut came earlier, on the 1999 David Grisman album Dawg Duos, where he demonstrated mature musicianship alongside the bluegrass luminary. His leader debut, Sounding Point (2009), featured banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and mandolinist Chris Thile. The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2010.

Lage’s early collaborations expanded rapidly through the 2010s. He worked extensively with vibraphonist Charles Lloyd and saxophonist John Zorn, appearing on numerous Zorn recordings through the Tzadik label. His trio with bassist Scott Colley and drummer Kenny Wollesen became a productive ensemble. Duo recordings with Nels Cline, Chris Eldridge, and Gyan Riley broadened his artistic range. Lage released Gladwell in 2011 and World’s Fair in 2015, the latter conceived during recovery from focal dystonia, a neurological condition that caused hand spasms. He disclosed this struggle in a 2016 NPR Fresh Air interview, crediting childhood overuse from playing an oversized instrument. The recovery transformed his priorities toward emotional directness over technical display. His 2016 album Arclight explored electric guitar and pre-bebop swing idioms, conceived as homage to Jim Hall’s principle that nothing lies outside jazz boundaries.

Lage signed to Blue Note Records in March 2021 and released Squint in June 2021, featuring bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. View With a Room followed in September 2022, consolidating his reputation as a mature artist. The albums showcased synthesis of post-bop complexity, blues feeling, and compositional craft. Joe Henry produced Speak to Me in 2024, his most recent statement before Scenes from Above, announced for January 2026 and featuring keyboardist John Medeski alongside his core trio. Since 2010, Lage has taught at The New School’s School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City and previously at New England Conservatory of Music. His prolific output and collaborations with Gary Burton, Fred Hersch, and Charles Lloyd established him as one of contemporary jazz’s most versatile guitarists, distinguished by emotional depth and interpretive insight rather than technical display alone.