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“The sound they've come up with is rooted in multiple intertwined/interrelated traditions,
but winds up as something unique and entirely itself…There are elements of soulful organ jazz here, as well as some folk and hillbilly guitar, and a swinging beat that
occasionally slips close to rock, and the improvisations are never
mere showboating or displays of florid technique; they always serve the song."
– STEREOGUM
“A magnificent listening ethos and flow.”
– THE ARTS DESK
“Julian Lage simultaneously consolidates and extends his artistic courage with Scenes From Above, and, in doing so, he could not be more
emphatic in both honoring and extending the heritage of
this vaunted jazz institution as a bastion for just such mature creativity.”
– GLIDE
7x GRAMMY® Award-nominated guitar virtuoso Julian Lage has shared his eagerly awaited new album, Scenes From Above, available now in a variety of formats, including black vinyl, CD, and digital download, as well as an Antique Brown vinyl variant available exclusively on the Julian Lage Artist Store and the Blue Note Store.
A live performance video of the album’s closing song, “Something More,” premieres today. It’s a beautiful video to celebrate today’s release of the album as it shows the quartet lean into the sad and sweet tune that feels like a four-part prayer, a shared wish for better days ahead. That they handle a song like this with such finesse and warmth on a first or second take, as with every track on Scenes from Above, remains a testament to the concept, to freedom, and, between them both, to trust.
STREAM/PURCHASE SCENES FROM ABOVE
WATCH “SOMETHING MORE” LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO
"I am so excited to share my latest album, Scenes From Above, says Lage. “This album features John Medeski on organ and piano, Jorge Roeder on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums. It is produced by our dear friend Joe Henry and is a celebration of a new quartet of old friends. We hope you enjoy and look forward to sharing this music live with you soon. Big love and gratitude.”
Lage’s fifth full-length Blue Note release, Scenes From Above marks his second album made in collaboration with 3x GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Joe Henry (Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Solomon Burke), and the first collection with a striking new quartet featuring keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Kenny Wollesen. The album – which follows 2024’s GRAMMY® Award-nominated Speak To Me – includes such standout tracks as the gorgeous invocation, “Opal,” the gleeful groove and jam of “Talking Drum,” and the exquisite seven-minute centerpiece, “Night Shade,” all of which are accompanied by official live performance videos streaming now on YouTube.
Scenes From Above has quickly been met by critical applause from such publications as The Arts Desk, which declared in its five-starred rave, “It has never been any kind of secret that (Lage) is very special. But the listening ethos, the teamwork, and the flow of Scenes From Above hopefully show him entering a new phase…A climate of mutual respect prevails and is to be treasured throughout the album, and whets the appetite to hear this quartet live.”
LISTEN TO “NIGHT SHADE”
WATCH “NIGHT SHADE” OFFICIAL LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO
LISTEN TO “TALKING DRUM”
WATCH “TALKING DRUM” OFFICIAL LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO
LISTEN TO "OPAL"
WATCH "OPAL" LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO
Lage will celebrate the arrival of Scenes From Above with a busy international live schedule, including a just-announced North American fall tour with the new quartet beginning October 14 at Vancouver, BC’s The Chan Centre and then traveling through the month. Upcoming dates also include quartet performances at Knoxville, TN’s Big Ears Festival (March 29, 2026), Savannah, GA’s Savannah Music Festival (April 1, 2026), and London’s Royal Festival Hall (May 15, 2026). Additional shows and venue details will be announced soon. For complete details and ticket information, please visit www.julianlage.com/tour.
Where 2024’s Speak to Me was Lage’s grand statement as an improvising bandleader helming an ensemble through a diverse set of tunes, Scenes from Above is about being a band member himself, about Lage exploring the tunes he has written with a crew he has built with that entirely in mind. Its nine tracks frame a brilliantly open experience, with four astounding players giving and taking space in equal measure as they explore these songs in one space, in real time.
“I came in with a desire to present this as an egalitarian thing, rather than ‘I’m the leader — let’s build something around me,’” Lage says. “This is music that’s connected to our own growth and development individually and within our relationships with one another, with no sense that anybody’s expecting anything.”
The album’s nine compositions resulted from what Lage calls a writing sprint ahead of a residency at SFJAZZ, which marked the live debut of the band. As he thought about each of their qualities as players and hypothesized about how they might interact, he set a timer for 20 minutes, wrote a tune, recorded it once, and then began again.
“My dream with composing, really, is to have something to talk about once we’re together,” he says. “It’s not the end-all, be-all.”
“Julian really thinks about things, has a lot of intention,” says John Medeski. “But it’s a beautiful combination of caring about the concept and direction and of being free and in the moment.”
Scenes from Above radiates both qualities in tandem, and that’s what makes the album so poignant and timely.
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JULIAN LAGE
SCENES FROM ABOVE
(Blue Note Records)
Release Date: January 23, 2026
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