Arclight is the fourth solo album by American jazz guitarist Julian Lage, released by Mack Avenue Records on March 11, 2016. Two tracks were given a pre-release: "Nocturne" and "Harlem Blues".
Background Arclight was recorded on a Fender Telecaster, which is not generally considered to be a jazz guitar. Lage stated in an interview that "the electric guitar was always so fascinating to me, and my guitar heroes played it ... Stevie Ray Vaughan ... [Eric] Clapton or whatnot—Muddy Waters."
While most of the tunes on the album are originals, there are several "pre-bebop" compositions from "before things got kind of codified and slick and refined", in Lage's words. Lage said he enjoyed such tunes mostly because of the chord changes, which he described as a "slippery approach to basically fundamental harmony".
"Nocturne", one of the pre-release singles, is a 1930s Spike Hughes composition. Lage explained that he liked this tune because "it starts on this minor chord, and. .. it's very hard to find ... songs that weren't major, that weren't happy, that weren't just total dance music".
According to Lage, the chord progression played on "Harlem Blues", a W. C. Handy composition, was inspired by Willard Robison's chord changes for the song, slightly different from Handy's simpler progression.
Reception
Critical reception was generally positive.
Troy Collins of All About Jazz called it a "brisk but bracing affair". Doug Collette of the same publication noted, "Lage proves himself not just a student of his instrument ... but an exceedingly fast learner in the art of studio recording." Collette praised producer Jesse Harris, writing, "Harris deserves extra credit for the size and clarity of the recorded sound here because that introductory track arises from the speaker ... with as much presence as magnitude."
The Irish Times writer Cormac Larkin noted that the album had "echoes of Bill Frisell and particularly Jim Hall", the latter being one of Lage's major influences.
JazzTimes said, "the general mood of the music—call it eclectic Americana with a double shot of whimsy—bring[s] Bill Frisell strongly to mind".
Track listing
Personnel Musicians Julian Lage – electric guitar Scott Colley – double bass Kenny Wollesen – drums, vibraphone Technical
Al Pryor – executive vice president Gretchen Valade – executive producer Jesse Harris, Maria Ehrenreich – producer Will Wakefield – production manager Ed McEntee, Ted Tuthill – recording engineer Nick Nagurka – assistant recording engineer Cian Riordan – mixing Dan Millice – mastering Charlie Wagers – art direction, design Justin Camerer – photography Willard Robison – music arranger
Charts Chart (2016)Peak positionBillboard Jazz Albums5
See also
Live in Los Angeles
References
External links