尽管他已经成为世界领先的职业爵士乐guitarist,朱利安·拉奇（Julian Lage）不仅是一个谦虚的人，而且仍然是谦虚的音乐家。在过去的十年左右的时间里，他策划了一个典范的背面目录，从年轻的爵士神童升至最受尊敬的生活中的球员之一。经过多次表演和与传奇蓝色笔记记录的合作，眯is his first album proper for the imprint, which he coyly admits is a tremendous honour. “As cliche as it might sound, it’s a dream to be associated with a label that makes music that not only I love, but the entire community and lineage that I’m connected to loves.
“蓝色音符的优点之一是，尽管是传奇的标签，但他们并没有在音乐家的负责人身上持有这种地位。它的传奇之处是因为它支持音乐家创作新音乐，而不论传统如何。我感到受到启发，谦卑和无所畏惧，我想我只是要去做，做一些新的和令人兴奋的东西。”
这种无所畏惧丰富眯。Prior to recording the album at Nashville’s Sound Emporium in August of last year, Lage says he set out to compose “positive, beautiful music… from three cats who love each other.”
在全球大流行的云下记录，在美国继续抗议，保持浮力和积极是其本身的挑战。他认为：“音乐是反映人类的这种看不见的现象，它在空中移动并可以传递信息。”“我认为不仅是一个国民，而且考虑到系统性种族主义，令人难以置信的不公正现象，我开始认识到我们正在做的是基本上是抽象的艺术。这可能是任何事物的抽象，我们不需要字面的词就可以做到这一点。这并不意味着您需要使用更多的次要和弦。这不是快乐和悲伤的直接关系，而是更多。”
Lage found himself questioning what music he needed to hear during this time, concluding that what he needed was support on his journey of learning about the state of the world and becoming a more compassionate and present person. “The music did change with that question,” he admits. “There were areas of risk and improvisation that I decided to bolster. In a lot of ways, it was it was kind of like releasing the seams in a jacket like a tailor might; let’s just make more room in the music.”
熟悉的花
Working alongside friends and long-time collaborators Jorge Roeder and Dave King, on bass and drums respectively, he was able to find comfort in that delicate space, helped by the rapport they’ve developed over numerous years of performing together. Lage says that it “stems from our friendship and mutual respect.”
“They’re both great students and masters of this idea that if you’re fluid with your instrument, you can say whatever you want, however you want. I think this record shows you that. They have to be ridiculously great at their instruments just to take the turns they make musically, and they choose to take those turns at junctures that are impactful.”
罗德（Roeder）和金（King）的能力在介绍期间可听见熟悉的花，在Lage进入折叠之前对歌曲提供敏感性。“I tried to impose that kind of intro on a lot of songs and then said, ‘Okay, if I can only get away with one, it has to be impactful.’ It’s always been my dream with this music that you could hear it and not hear me, and you would know it’s the music I’m working on.”
The trio’s work stretches back to 2019’s爱疼，封面和解释的专辑。作为眯Lage承认，几乎完全由新的原始作品组成，动态迅速发展，增加了新的自我反射。当三个人在2020年1月登上纽约传奇的乡村先锋队获得六晚居留权时，这些想法只会进一步发展。
“Those covers on爱疼are set, nothing’s changing with the songs. The focus is entirely on interpretation. I think the challenge in writing for the band is that I have to write in a way that makes us want to interpret but it doesn’t mean writing in the way that we interpret. I found myself needing to write music that was a bit more stoic compositionally. That’s one of those interesting things that I think all players and composers need to contend with. Chick Corea figured it out. John Coltrane figured out! It’s definitely part of the tradition to figure it out. It’s like writing a good joke. you need the setup and then a good punchline.”
在其他地方眯, Lage has been helped by two close compatriots, the production abilities of Margaret Glaspy andJeff Tweedy’sinformal counselling. Their influence is clear, ensuring that the album is lyrical and flows with a consistent narrative. Lage confesses he’s fascinated by the distinction between composer and songwriter, considering himself the latter.
“I don’t mean to be empirical, but I think a composer can say, ‘Hey, I did this thing, take it or leave it.’ I think a songwriter can do that but there’s still a storytelling element. Implicit in the songs are mechanisms that draw the ear in and tell you ‘I want you to listen to this.’ With Margaret, there were times where certain performances would slip into proficient jazz music. She’d say, ‘Do it again, but listen more to one another’ and it suddenly would sound like a song.”
Glaspy的影响力至关重要，使乐队超越了他们先入为主的限制，就像告诉画家避免画布的限制。Lage强烈同意：“我们不看约翰·科尔特兰（John Coltrane），然后去，‘啊，但是如果只有歌词。’我认为这是您知道您的媒介，并且了解您的管家。”
爱疼
莱奇（Lage）以其精美的解释而闻名，他在众多大师班中详细介绍了这一点，他在他的第七个独奏唱片《约翰尼·曼德尔（Johnny Mandel）》中再次访问了他的两个最爱Emily和比利·希尔的Call Of The Canyon。许多玩家在掩盖自己喜欢的歌曲时会感到恐惧，而Lage坚信您必须喜欢这首歌，以便以正确的方式重新构想。“我不会假装我有任何真诚的答案，我一生都问了这个问题。桑尼·罗林斯（Sonny Rollins）的演奏方式，听起来像他，当我演奏时，我听起来不像他或我？”他笑了。
“我发现我解释了我真的非常喜欢的歌曲比我真正喜欢的歌曲好得多。如果您真的很喜欢它，那就是您的州长。换句话说，这就是保护您免受歌曲的伤害的事情。您不必tip脚在它周围，想知道您是否侮辱了歌曲创作的神，因为您喜欢它。如果您发现自己必须尊重这首歌及其解释的愿望，那可能不是合适的歌曲。”
Another important element of眯is his newly acquired signature碰撞470 JL。令人惊叹的吉他，让人想起莱奇（Lage）偏爱的众多吉他，最著名的是他的格雷施Duo Jet。他向我们保证，不仅仅是向大品牌乐器致敬，还有更多。
他兴奋地说：“这绝对是我的身体经历。”“我是顽固的电视player and the Collings is one, in a lot of respects. It sounds like a Tele once I’ve put it through my overdrive pedal and coming through an old amp. It’s like it was meant to get the sound of my signal chain, but you could just plug it [the guitar] into any amp and hear that.”
似乎470 JL旨在简化他的钻机。通常，使用踏板遏制与固体吉他相关的咬合，他的碰撞是半空心的，并且在某些寄存器中自然sc。“这是短规模的，因此它具有一定的浮力，使我想起了电视通过花呢放大器发出的很多方式。”
除了他的新签名模型，Lage还使用了他心爱的’55Les Paul, but he admits that it’s not always easy to decipher between both guitars. “You can kind of tell which one is which but not really, which was the point. It was an influential part of the record. I call it a concert electric. It feels like a race car. It has so much horsepower, clarity, fluidity, everything! It’s exhilarating.”
眯is out now on蓝色笔记。