Review Summary: Can you hear it?
Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but I find the title of Julian Lage’s latest work—
Speak to Me—to have a much deeper meaning than Lage himself probably even intended. Lage has created an album that—while it isn’t maybe as deep or profound as other albums in the genre—celebrates the beauty of music, both personally and a form of artistic expression. Along the one hour run, Lage incorporates and explores a variety of different musical textures into his very firmly jazz foundations, creating a very personal experience that does not rely on virtuosity to create an effect, and instead conveys an understanding that that music is not just pretty sounds—it is a means of both evoking and speaking our thoughts, emotions and attitudes in ways that simply cannot be expressed in words. To put it simply:
Speak to Me is a vibrantly colorful panorama of mood and melody that captures not only the joy of making music, but also of sharing it.
Probably the most captivating aspect of
Speak to Me is the amount of fun that Lage and his band seem to be having. Lage doesn’t need to prove that he’s a virtuoso (the man had a documentary made about him at the age of eight), and the interplay between him and the rest of his band is both tasteful and noticeable. The more blues-oriented tracks such as “Northern Shuffle,” “Serenade,” and “South Mountain” are balanced efforts that exhibit both individual excellence and tight communication between the musicians involved. The bright textures and colorful melodies exude a playful tone that brings the album to life.
Lage himself (especially on classical or acoustic guitars) remains nothing short of a master when it is his time to shine. While each track tries to embody a certain mood in its composition, it is most evident when Lage is given space to do what he does best. As an example, in “Me Around You,” Lage’s guitar flutters like a young lover’s heart, expertly painting a picture of the joy one feels around another for which one is deeply affectionate. As the song progresses, Lage relaxes into a more settled, yet still beautiful melody—depicting the movement of love’s journey into a firmly rooted stability of union.
Another point of note in this album is that none of the compositions exceed six or seven minutes in length. The concise nature of the songwriting helps keep the album from losing steam, especially due to the shifts in tempo and style that the album goes through. I didn’t lose interest throughout
Speak to Me’s runtime, and a lot of that had to do with looking forward to what surprise Lage would pull out of his hat next.
Maybe this album isn’t as profound or deeply original as other jazz albums, but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful or enjoyable to listen to. In fact, give it a shot—wait for a sunny day, sit outside on your balcony or porch or wherever and give it a spin. I can assure you that you’ll find something to enjoy.
