''Arclight'' is the fourth solo album by American jazz guitarist
Julian Lage. Two tracks were given a prerelease, "Nocturne" and "Harlem Blues".
Background
''Arclight'' was recorded on a
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
Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...
...
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, what he described as a "slippery approach to basically fundamental harmony".
"Nocturne", one of the pre-release singles, was an old
Spike Hughes
Patrick Cairns "Spike" Hughes (19 October 1908 – 2 February 1987) was a British musician, composer and arranger involved in the worlds of classical music and jazz. He has been called Britain's earliest jazz composer. Later in his career, he ...
composition. Lage said 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",
while Doug Collette of the same publisher 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, saying "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."
critic Cormac Larkin said that the album had "echoes of Bill Frisell and particularly Jim Hall",
the latter being one of Lage's major influences.
Track listing
All compositions written by Julian Lage except where noted.
* Fortune Teller – 3:03
* Persian Rug (Charlie Daniels/
Gus Kahn) – 2:23
* Nocturne (
Spike Hughes
Patrick Cairns "Spike" Hughes (19 October 1908 – 2 February 1987) was a British musician, composer and arranger involved in the worlds of classical music and jazz. He has been called Britain's earliest jazz composer. Later in his career, he ...
) – 3:19
* Supera – 4:01
* Stop Go Start – 3:31
* Activate – 2:08
* Presley – 4:12
* Prospero – 3:08
*
I'll Be Seeing You (
Sammy Fain
Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatre. ...
/
Irving Kahal) – 3:31
* Harlem Blues (
W. C. Handy) – 3:27
* Ryland – 4:02
Personnel
* Julian Lage –
electric guitar
*
Scott Colley – bass
*
Kenny Wollesen – drums,
vibraphone
Charts
References
{{Authority control
Julian Lage albums
2016 albums
Mack Avenue Records albums