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 played guitar. At age five, Lage watched his father perform and decided to pursue music himself. He began classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and studied composition at Sonoma State University and the Ali Akbar College of Music. At eight, Lage performed with Carlos Santana in Concord, California. The 1996 documentary Jules at Eight captured his childhood talent and received an Academy Award nomination.

Gary Burton discovered Lage after hearing him perform at the 2000 Grammy Awards when he was twelve years old. The vibraphonist became his primary mentor and collaborator for the next decade. Burton recorded four albums featuring Lage between 2003 and the early 2010s, beginning with Generations. Before leading his own group, Lage appeared on David Grisman’s Dawg Duos in 1999, demonstrating mature musicianship alongside the bluegrass pioneer. His leader debut, Sounding Point (2009), featured banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and mandolinist Chris Thile and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Lage graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2008, establishing himself at the intersection of jazz tradition and contemporary practice. He joined the faculty of Stanford Jazz Workshop at age fifteen.

In 2013, focal dystonia, a neurological condition causing involuntary hand spasms, emerged from his intensive childhood practice. Lage could not perform for over a year. He underwent retraining with pianist Sophia Rosoff and discovered that emotional directness mattered more than technical display. This period fundamentally reshaped his artistic philosophy. World’s Fair (2015) and Arclight (2016) with Scott Colley and Kenny Wollesen reflected his renewed priorities. Arclight explored pre-bop swing and electric guitar traditions as homage to Jim Hall. Throughout the 2010s, Lage collaborated with saxophonist John Zorn, Charles Lloyd, Nels Cline, Fred Hersch, and Gyan Riley, establishing himself as a versatile voice in contemporary jazz.

Lage signed to Blue Note Records in March 2021. His first album for the label, Squint (2021), featured bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. View with a Room (2022) consolidated his mature style, synthesizing post-bop complexity, blues feeling, and compositional craft. Producer Joe Henry worked with Lage on Speak to Me (2024), which showcased stylistic diversity from solo to large ensemble settings. Scenes from Above, planned for January 2026, reunites Lage with Henry and features keyboardist John Medeski alongside his core trio. Since 2010, he has taught at The New School’s School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. His prolific output and deep collaborations established him as a guitarist distinguished by emotional depth and interpretive insight.