''Sounding Point'' is the debut studio album by the then 21-year-old jazz guitarist Julian Lage. It was released in March 2009 by

EmArcy Records EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cl ...

. It entered the ''Billboard'' Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart at number 13 and was nominated for the 2010

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality ...

. Reviews of the album were generally positive; one reviewer found the recording inferior to Lage's live performances.

Overview

''Sounding Point'' was recorded when Lage was 20 years old. He plays an acoustic Martin D-18GE and an

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

Linda Manzer Linda Jane Manzer (born July 2, 1952) is a Canadian master luthier renowned for her archtop, flat top, and harp guitars. Career Manzer was a folk singer in high school and played guitar. Her career began when she wanted a dulcimer, but she c ...

archtop An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. Typically, an archtop guitar has: * Six strings * An a ...

on the record. The album was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album but lost to the

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

album '' 75''. The other nominees were '' Urbanus'' by

Stefon Harris Stefon DeLeon Harris (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz vibraphonist. Biography A native of Albany, New York, Harris intended to work for the New York Philharmonic until he heard the music of Charlie Parker. During the 1990s he recorded ...

, ''

At World's Edge ''At World's Edge'' is the ninth album by jazz keyboardist Philippe Saisse. The 2009 release was Saisse's first on Koch Records. It was produced by Saisse and Roy Hendrickson and was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz ...

'' by

Philippe Saisse Philippe Saisse (; born 1957) is a French jazz musician, composer, record producer, and arranger. Career He was born in Marseille and raised in Paris. After studying at the Paris Conservatory he won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. ...

, and '' Big Neighborhood'' by

Mike Stern Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, re ...

Various ensembles

Lage performs two solo tracks on the release, the remainder of the album consists of pieces played by three separate combos. There are two duets, "Tour One" and "All Blues", with pianist Taylor Eigsti and three all-string bluegrass inspired numbers, "The Informant", "Long Day, Short Night", and "Alameda", with

Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

and

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

. The remaining six tracks are played by some combination of Lage's touring band; saxophonist Ben Roseth, cellist Aristides Rivas, bassist Jorge Roeder, and percussionist Tupac Mantilla. There are no trap drums on the recording, Mantilla plays

cajón A cajón ( ; "box, crate, drawer") is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces (generally thin plywood) with the hands, fingers, or sometimes implements such as brushes, mallets, or st ...

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

frame drum A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. It is one of the most ancient musical instruments, and perhaps the first drum to be invented. It has a single drumhead that is usually made of rawhide, but man-made mat ...

s and

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

Selected tracks

The album's opening track, "Clarity" was written by Lage when he was 15 years old for

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz Vibraphone, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused ...

's album ''Next Generation''. It was rewritten for this release to feature the cello playing of Aristides Rivas. "All Purpose Beginning" is about writing a letter to a friend. It starts with the sound of a pencil writing on paper. The album's closing track, " All Blues" is a cover of the

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

composition. There are two other covers,

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

's "Alameda" and

Neal Hefti Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for '' The Odd Couple'' movie and TV series and for the ''Batman'' TV series. He began arranging professionally in hi ...

's "Lil' Darlin'", a piece made famous by

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Critical reception

David Wiegand in his review in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' wrote that Lage "demonstrates a jaw-dropping stylistic range and thrilling technique" on this "exquisite" album. In his review in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'',

Geoffrey Himes Geoffrey Himes is an American music critic who has written weekly for ''the Washington Post'' since 1977. He also wrote for '' No Depression'' as a contributing editor in its first print era in the late 1990s to the early 2000s and has written for ...

called Lage "a jazz newcomer more interested in elegance than in flash, more interested in instrumental storytelling than in virtuosity." The '' Chicago Tribune's'' Howard Reich found the album to be inferior to Lage's live performances. He wrote "The power of this music proved significantly greater in concert than on the recording" and "What often sounds static and predictable on disc becomes dramatically more vibrant and detailed in concert". John Fordham quips in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that a "downside of the music is a sometimes becalmed over-refinement". In Patrick Ferrucci's ''

New Haven Register The ''New Haven Register'' is a daily newspaper published in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The Register's main office is located at 100 Gando Drive in New Haven. The ''Register'' was established about 1812 and i ...

'' review, he called the release "a cohesive and entertaining jazz journey".

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

managing editor wrote "a formed voice that transcends yet incorporates his multifaceted stylistic interests, Lage's impressive debut points to a giant in the making".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Michael G. Nastos called the album "as impressive a debut recording as you'll hear" and Lage "a legitimate rising star".

Tracks

Personnel

* Julian Lage – guitar *

– banjo on "The Informant", "Long Day, Short Night", and "Alameda" *

– mandolin on "The Informant", "Long Day, Short Night", and "Alameda" * Ben Roseth – saxophone on "Clarity", "All Purpose Beginning", "Peterborough", "Quiet, Through and Through", and "Motor Minder" * Taylor Eigsti – piano on "Tour One" and "All Blues" * Aristides Rivas – cello on "Clarity" and "All Purpose Beginning" * Jorge Roeder – bass on "Clarity", "All Purpose Beginning", "Quiet, Through and Through", "Lil' Darlin'", and "Motor Minder" * Tupac Mantilla – hand percussion on "Clarity", "All Purpose Beginning", "Lil' Darlin'", and "Motor Minder"

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Julian Lage albums EmArcy Records albums