Renowned and deeply respected guitarist and songwriter Julian Lage returns to The Alluvion Jazz Series with his newest band featuring John Medeski, Jorge Roeder, and Kenny Wollesen. On a global tour supporting their striking new album: Scenes From Above out on Blue Note Records.
TWO SHOWS
Tickets sold separately for each show. Both shows are 75 minute sets.
All ages - General Admission
Seated Listening Room Style Show
Doors & bar open at 6:30PM - Show starts at 7:00
Tickets $50 in advance - $55 at the door
Scenes from Above, Lage’s second full-length album with the producer Joe Henry and his first with this striking quartet. Where 2024’s Speak to Me was Lage’s grand statement as an improvising bandleader capable of helming a relatively large 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.
JULIAN LAGE
Award-winning guitarist Julian Lage has been widely acclaimed as one of the most prodigious guitarists of his generation. The New York-based musician boasts a long resumé as a desired sideman with artists as diverse as Gary Burton, Taylor Eigsti, John Zorn, Nels Cline, Chris Eldridge, Eric Harland, and Fred Hersch, to name just a few. Equally important is his reputation as a soloist and bandleader. He is equally versed in jazz, classical, pop, and show tunes, and has spent more than a decade searching through the myriad strains of American musical history via an impeccable technique and a gift for freely associating between styles, tempos, keys, and textures that adds to his limitless improvisational spirit.
Lage was a child prodigy — playing his instrument at the age of five and performing in public a year later. Shortly thereafter, Lage began playing with such renowned artists as Carlos Santana (when he was only eight years old!), Pat Metheny, Kenny Werner, Toots Thielemans, Martin Taylor, and David Grisman, among others, resulting in Lage being the subject of the Academy Award-nominated 1996 documentary film Jules at Eight.
With over 10 studio albums released including Speak To Me, his remarkable 4th release for Blue Note Records with the help of esteemed producer Joe Henry who enhances Lage’s trademark melodic lyricism on this wide-ranging set of compelling new originals. In addition to Lage’s longtime trio with Jorge Roeder on bass and Dave King on drums, the album also featured contributions from saxophonist Levon Henry and keyboardist Patrick Warren.
“Neither of us were interested in making Speak to Me II. That record has its own character, and there’s a great liberation in that,” says Henry. “That was an idea that exists, and we don’t have to babysit it any longer.”
Lage was in a deep period of thinking about what he calls folkloric music, from the songs of Susana Baca and early calypso numbers to the American blues and Béla Bartók’s integration of Romanian and Hungarian tunes into his own work. His writing reflected those touchstones. And as the two-day session at New York’s Sear Sound began to near, he also thought about texture and timbre, about how he could use his instrument to avoid the familiar terrain and potential pitfalls of the guitar trio-plus-organ configuration. By choosing an acoustic guitar rather than an electric on a particular tune, for instance, could he lure Medeski into unexpected spaces?
“Keyboards are often a drag — we play too many notes. I can play a lot of notes, too,” Medeski says, laughing. “Julian really thinks about things, has a lot of intention. But it’s a beautiful combination of caring about the concept and direction and of being free and in the moment.”
JOHN MEDESKI
Famed keyboardist John Medeski is not easily contained to a single project or genre; he is credited on over 300 works to date, most notably as one third of the groundbreaking trio, Medeski Martin & Wood. Equally comfortable behind a Steinway grand piano, Hammond organ or any number of vintage keyboards, Medeski is a highly sought after improviser and band leader whose projects range from work with John Zorn, The Word (Robert Randolph, North Mississippi Allstars), Phil Lesh, Don Was, John Scofield, Coheed & Cambria, Susana Baca, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and many more.
Classically trained, Medeski grew up in Ft.Lauderdale, FL where as a teenager he played with Jaco Pastorius before heading north to attend the New England Conservatory. He released his first solo piano record, A Different Time, on Sony’s Okeh Records in 2013, and current projects include a new album in the works with his band MadSkillet (Terrence Higgins, Kirk Joseph, Will Bernard), and HUDSON (a collaboration with Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield & Larry Grenadier), plus a documentary on Medeski Martin & Wood.
JORGE ROEDER
Originally from Lima, Peru, bassist Jorge Roeder has become renowned as one of the most versatile and expressive bass players in jazz today. Combining a symphonic imagination with the intimate lyricism of a folk musician, the aggressive energy of a raw rocker with the buoyant rhythmic sensibilities of his Afro-Peruvian roots, Roeder conveys a wide spectrum of influences within a resolute foundation. In his hands, writes Peter Hum of the Ottawa Citizen, “the music feels like it’s dancing from the ground up.”
The stunning adaptability of Roeder’s voice is evidenced by the diversity of his gifted collaborators. He has enjoyed long-standing partnerships with guitarist Julian Lage, whose music encompasses a panoramic sweep of Americana styles, and Argentinian vocalist Sofia Rei, an inventive songwriter and interpreter of melodies from various South American traditions. He is also a key member of Israeli pianist Shai Maestro’s trio, which blends intricate complexity and ethereal elegance, as well as trombonist Ryan Keberle’s politically charged ensemble Catharsis.
With his boundless skills and searching curiosity, Roeder’s music seems to forever be reaching towards a new horizon. He’s absorbed the lessons of cerebral classical training, unbridled rock passion, and spontaneous jazz invention to form a singular voice on the bass, one that has placed him in the vanguard of modern jazz.
KENNY WOLLESEN
Kenny Wollesen is an American drummer and percussionist.
Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a founding member of the New Klezmer Trio and a member of the Sex Mob and Himalayas groups.
He grew up in Capitola, California, studying at Aptos High School, and spending many teenage years playing with Donny McCaslin. He spent quality classroom time with flugelhornist and arranger Ray Brown at Cabrillo College. He also arranges and studied vibraphone at Cabrillo.
Wollesen utilizes the Burton grip when playing vibraphone.
Want to stay in the loop for upcoming Alluvion shows and events? Be the first to know what’s happening next by signing up for our email updates here: Join our email list
Dive into The Deep End: The Alluvion’s new fan club.
