progressive grass: Julian Lage

Photo by Jimmy Katz

I first came across Julian Lage browsing Telluride’s Nightgrass lineup this past summer. Raised in NorCal and now living in Boston, he performed in Telluride with The Punch Brothers, which is led by former Nickel Creek mandolinist Chris Thile. Like Chris, Julian got started really young and matured quickly, moving into progressive stuff with his first album Sounding Point, which was released in March. The album melds blues, classical, folk and jazz and includes special guests Bela Fleck & Chris Thile.

As he told the Boston Globe,

“I’m glad I waited to record my first album, because I was unsure of where adulthood would take me,’’ Lage, 21, explained after a guest performance last month with an organ/drums duo at Coda, a new San Francisco jazz spot. “I wanted to debut with a full-fledged statement, a la Béla Fleck, Gary Burton, and Dave Grisman. They had their stuff together on their first recordings.’’

A big stretch for me, but in a very good way. Here’s a taste from a vid I found on his site. He’ll be at The Living Room on the Lower East Side on Wednesday, November 18^th.

Julian Lage talks to The Boston Globe

Sounding Point on Amazon

Julian Lage Web site