Seven-time GRAMMY Award-nominated guitar virtuoso Julian Lage shares “Night Shade,” the epic seven-minute centerpiece from his forthcoming Blue Note release ‘Scenes From Above,’ arriving January 23. The track arrives with an official live performance video showcasing Lage’s striking new quartet featuring keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Kenny Wollesen. “Night Shade” carries a Medeski organ run that channels gospel gold while Lage delivers a series of solos that suggest brilliantly gestural blues. Throughout the exhilarating journey, the music continually crests like a wave about to crack open into chaos, but the band holds steady both to be heard and to hear others. Four dazzling instrumentalists occupy the same room, talking to one another but never over one another, creating a conversation that rewards close attention.
‘Scenes From Above’ marks Lage’s second album with three-time GRAMMY Award-winning producer Joe Henry and follows 2024’s GRAMMY Award-nominated ‘Speak To Me’. The album was introduced in November with “Opal” and followed in December by “Talking Drum,” which sees the quartet sizzling as Medeski stabs his organ between the beat until he lifts up to ride alongside Lage. Lage describes the project as an egalitarian experience rather than a leader-driven statement, music connected to growth and development within relationships where nobody expects anything predetermined. The nine tracks frame a brilliantly open experience with four astounding players giving and taking space in equal measure.
JULIAN LAGE – 2026 TOUR DATES
Jan. 31 – Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts – Brookfield, WI
Mar. 13-15 – GroundUP Music Festival – Miami Beach, FL
Mar. 29 – Big Ears Festival – Knoxville, TN
Mar. 31 – Keswick Theatre – Glenside, PA
Apr. 1 – Savannah Music Festival – Savannah, GA
Apr. 2 – SOPAC South – Orange, NJ
May 7 – Huxley’s Neue Welt – Berlin, DE
May 9 – Tivoli Vrendenburg Grote Zaal – Utrecht, NL
May 10 – Jazz à Liège – Liège, BE
May 11 – Die Kantine – Cologne, DE
May 13 – Muziekgebouw Eindhoven – Eindhoven, NL
May 15 – Royal Festival Hall – London, UK