Julian Lage master class

**joe2758** · 08-10-2015, 11:51 AM

Saw this on youtube. pretty awesome. what's not to love about this guy?

**Irez87** · 08-20-2015, 12:33 AM

My favorite study of his is the following:

and how bout his playing with Eric Harland (my favorite young lion drummer):

**Hep To The Jive** · 08-20-2015, 04:11 AM

Amazingly, he can also play mean Gypsy jazz! Too late to look for videos, but they are out there. Again, Im not the biggest fan, but have a lot of respect for his talent.

**Hep To The Jive** · 08-20-2015, 12:47 PM

Here's Julian takes on Gypsy jazz, with great players!

**jasonc** · 08-20-2015, 01:25 PM

Check this clip out. Julian's solo starts at about 6:30 minutes in if you would like to skip ahead. I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea since it's very trad swing stuff but I don't think you could really argue that he lacks feeling and lyricism here. Also, note the reaction of the musicians he's playing with. Seems to me they find his playing to be adequate for the gig.

**jordanklemons** · 08-20-2015, 01:46 PM

I just saw Julian play a duo gig with Frisell last week. It was some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard in my life. Dynamic, lyrical, organic, soulful, playful, and even haunting at times.

When I see a musician empathize with another musician so deeply that they can crawl out of their ego and connect themselves with that person, and intertwine their sound that deeply with the sound of another player...that moves me. Whether it's two jazz guys improvising, or a classical string quartet, or bluegrass, or whatever...

And watching them do it with a smile on their face, with nothing but pure joy and happiness and appreciation for that moment...well that's just icing on the cake for me.

And like I said, I'm always open to finding more guys that play on that level (or on a higher level if there is one) from any and all race. So Bobalou, if you got anyone in mind...I'd still love it if you'd be kind of enough to share some names and/or videos for us to check out.

**Irez87** · 08-20-2015, 03:06 PM

He studied with Randy Vincent

**future2future** · 08-21-2015, 03:32 AM

To me Julian is one of the most interesting guys around. I personally love his playing and the styles of music he performs.
Taste is subjective: What's exciting to me can be boring and dull to you, that's what makes things interesting, but to say Julian sucks is just a stupid, ignorant thing to say. You can not like his music or his playing but everyone can see he is a highly proficient musician, you do not get recognised by the best people in the industry if you suck.

**Jazzism** · 08-21-2015, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by jordanklemons

I just saw Julian play a duo gig with Frisell last week. It was some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard in my life. Dynamic, lyrical, organic, soulful, playful, and even haunting at times.

When I see a musician empathize with another musician so deeply that they can crawl out of their ego and connect themselves with that person, and intertwine their sound that deeply with the sound of another player...that moves me. Whether it's two jazz guys improvising, or a classical string quartet, or bluegrass, or whatever...

And watching them do it with a smile on their face, with nothing but pure joy and happiness and appreciation for that moment...well that's just icing on the cake for me.

And like I said, I'm always open to finding more guys that play on that level (or on a higher level if there is one) from any and all race. So Bobalou, if you got anyone in mind...I'd still love it if you'd be kind of enough to share some names and/or videos for us to check out.

Was this at the stone?
this was my last night in town before I had to come back to Hong Kong. if I had more time I would have contacted you and tried to meetup. As it was it wasn't a bad last day. 2 sets with these masters which was phenomenal. Also Julian playing a tele ( which I've never heard before) maybe allowed him more possibilities for expression than maybe his arch top. Also, before seeing this gig I had just come from a lesson with charles altura, so yeah I left feeling very satisfied.i think anyone would have a difficult time convincing me that this guy can't play, not just his technical control of the instrument but also a very high level of musicality.
cheers

**jordanklemons** · 08-21-2015, 08:10 PM

I got to attend Jim's final concert, and even hang with him a bit before and after the show backstage. He definitely wasn't 100% there mentally. Played the same song twice in a row. Was a little hard to watch. I'm not too big of a man to admit that I choked up a bit.

That said...he was so warm and kind...and even with his mental faculties being shaky, he still played with a sense of lyrical melodicism that would put everyone else to shame. He was so creative that night. It was inspiring. I mean...not as inspiring as watching people put down others in an online forum or anything...that'll really get the passion and the musical inspirational juices flowing! I mean...who doesn't read threads like this and just get pumped up to jump into the practice shed or to compose some new tunes?!?!?

But still...there is a certain level of inspiration one can get from watching livings legends play their instrument.

**jordanklemons** · 08-21-2015, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by Jazzism

Was this at the stone?
this was my last night in town before I had to come back to Hong Kong. if I had more time I would have contacted you and tried to meetup. As it was it wasn't a bad last day. 2 sets with these masters which was phenomenal. Also Julian playing a tele ( which I've never heard before) maybe allowed him more possibilities for expression than maybe his arch top. Also, before seeing this gig I had just come from a lesson with charles altura, so yeah I left feeling very satisfied.i think anyone would have a difficult time convincing me that this guy can't play, not just his technical control of the instrument but also a very high level of musicality.
cheers

Were you there?! Oh man, what a performance! Glad to bump into someone else that got to witness it. I only made the late set. Heard great things about the early set too. Did you do all different tunes? Or a lot of the same material?

Yeah, it was really cool seeing the two of them both playing their teles. Their sound and tone blended really well because of that. If I wasn't watching them, at times I couldn't tell which guy was playing what. Sometimes it just sounded like one person with 4 arms playing.

**Jazzism** · 08-21-2015, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by jordanklemons

Were you there?! Oh man, what a performance! Glad to bump into someone else that got to witness it. I only made the late set. Heard great things about the early set too. Did you do all different tunes? Or a lot of the same material?

Yeah, it was really cool seeing the two of them both playing their teles. Their sound and tone blended really well because of that. If I wasn't watching them, at times I couldn't tell which guy was playing what. Sometimes it just sounded like one person with 4 arms playing.

I was lucky to make it to the first set as well. I rushed over from the lesson with charles and initially got turned away but a guy I had just met at the Jazz gallery a few days before, txt me to say he saved me a seat. I showed the guy at the door the txt and he let me in. So glad I made it as they were completely different tunes in both sets. Very impressive too, the deep cultural heritage they displayed as they played some material from the carter family and the breadth of their influences was amazing.
fortunately my friend was a bit naughty and I don't have to rely on just my happy memories of the gig to relive the great music on display that night.
I think that's the real shame for most people on here who would not normally get a chance to visit NYC. Unless you were in town you would never get to hear this stuff. As far as I know Julian and bill have not released anything. I saw so much great stuff while I was there but a lot of these people have not released anything.
folks, you owe it to yourself to have a jazz pilgrimage once in a while. You won't regret it, I know I'll be going back.

**fumblefingers** · 08-21-2015, 08:41 PM

Well I watched this little seminar with JL.

Firstly, I'll say that he is a master musician and a master guitarist.

But this was no "master class". It was EXTREMELY fundamental. It meandered around the topic wheel. The master musician was inarticulate at times. It was ego-centric. "Here's what I do".

A master class is about the student's development, not the master and his wonderfullness.

The class had instruments in their hands for some reason, but that reason is unclear.

Finally, it was a walk in the park for JL.

But I guess that's OK. For whatever reason they hired him, I'm sure he earned it.

**mr. beaumont** · 08-21-2015, 09:31 PM

Master Class means a whole different thing in the jazz world, like it or not.

**Melodic Dreamer** · 08-22-2015, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by jordanklemons

I got to attend Jim's final concert, and even hang with him a bit before and after the show backstage. He definitely wasn't 100% there mentally. Played the same song twice in a row. Was a little hard to watch. I'm not too big of a man to admit that I choked up a bit.

That said...he was so warm and kind...and even with his mental faculties being shaky, he still played with a sense of lyrical melodicism that would put everyone else to shame. He was so creative that night. It was inspiring. I mean...not as inspiring as watching people put down others in an online forum or anything...that'll really get the passion and the musical inspirational juices flowing! I mean...who doesn't read threads like this and just get pumped up to jump into the practice shed or to compose some new tunes?!?!?

But still...there is a certain level of inspiration one can get from watching livings legends play their instrument.

I so wish there were footage of the two of them together.