Jazz/Guitar - "When Julian Lage emerged on the music scene 13 years ago, the young San Francisco Bay Area-based musician was not only deemed a guitar-playing prodigy, but he was also 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 chooses 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 releases his debut album, Sounding Point. The CD is remarkably the most striking—and sophisticated—premiere of a young instrumental artist and composer in years. The music ranges from through-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 Neil Hefti ’s “Lil ’ Darlin.”

“I’ve been in a position where I could have recorded an album when I was younger but was never in a rush because I wanted to allow these compositions to grow and evolve in their own time.” says Lage. “And within the past four years, I have felt the music really take shape in the way I had always imagined. I feel grateful that there were no pressures on me to make a record until I felt it was time.”

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