JULIAN LAGE
View with a Room
Blue Note
There is a certain elusiveness and beauty in guitarist Julian Lage’s playing that’s reminiscent of his influences Charlie Christian and Jimmy Bryant. As he describes it, “there’s this almost electric volatility to their sound. It’s both beautiful and kind of sharp; it’s subdued and warm, but also kind of gritty.”
On his second album for Blue Note, Lage seeks to capture that same magic, both incorporating lush orchestration via two electric guitars and stretching his improvisational skills to the next level, as he so often does on each recording. The end result is View with a Room, 10 original compositions that encapsulate historical references to the Beach Boys, Keith Jarrett’s American and European Quartets, and George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass.
Instead of adding an entire string ensemble to the mix to give his music more of an orchestral feel, he keeps his original trio setting with longtime bandmates bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King but adds veteran six-stringer Bill Frisell. He is the spark that helps give Lage his dream of adding extra layers of instrumentation to each track.
Frisell and Lage jell beautifully together on tunes such as the graceful opener “Tributary,” “Auditorium,” and the driving “Chavez,” which keeps Roeder’s heavy bassline running through the song as the strings seamlessly rip through dozens of chords. “Temple Steps” gives off bluesy Caribbean vibes, and on the more swinging “Word for Word” Lage’s swift runs are a standout.
Overall, this is a vibrant mix of swing, blues, and elegant arrangements that showcase the growing compositional skill of one of today’s brightest jazz guitarists. Let’s hope for plenty more Frisell and Lage collaborations in the future.
—VERONICA JOHNSON
SNARKY PUPPY
Empire Central
GroundUP
Consisting of dozens of basically unassailable musicians in and out the door, Snarky Puppy is about as engaging as an instrumental ensemble can be. What the “big, funky, romping, muscular jazz band”—David Crosby’s words—lacks in emotional information, they make up for with slamming grooves, technical wizardry, and abundant ear candy. So what happens when they cut a live-in-the-studio record, heavy on the beats but with a drier aural palette? You win some, you lose some.
That’s what’s going on with Empire Central, their 16-track follow-up to 2019’s terrific Immigrance. The conceit is that it pays homage to the Dallas music scene; the band formed in Denton, 30 miles away. But aside from a vague feeling of metropolitan nightlife, you wouldn’t pick this up without reading the liner notes.
From opener “Keep It on Your Mind” to mid-album highlights like “Mean Green” to closer “Trinity,” will Empire Central maintain your interest? Absolutely: We’re dealing with masters here, most visible among them bassist/composer phenom Michael League. That the music is this rock-solid in such an unadorned context speaks volumes to how thrilling it’d be to behold it live.
Still, previous works benefited from their undeniable atmosphere; 2016’s Culcha Vulcha had an appealingly unpredictable kitchen-sink feeling, and Immigrance benefited from a vaguely swampy, oppressive energy that comported with its Trump-era milieu. Empire Central lacks a certain je ne sais quoi that might lead you back to other records instead.
No, Snarky hasn’t let us down thus far; they’re too canny to swing and completely miss. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of minor additions to their catalog.
—MORGAN ENOS
GILLES PETERSON/LIONEL LOUEKE
HH Reimagined
Edition
Lionel Loueke’s original went far enough—keeping in mind that “far enough” depends greatly on the direction(s). Loueke, bless him, found a few new directions for his tribute to mentor and employer Herbie
