THE WORLD'S BEST NEW MUSIC

Julian Lage has long since moved beyond the category of “guitar virtuoso”: having collaborated with the likes of saxophonist Charles Lloyd, vibraphonist Gary Burton, visionary saxophonist John Zorn, and guitar maestro Nels Cline, Lage has established himself as a composer with a rare feel for melody, form and emotional pacing. On Scenes From Above, his eleventh studio album and his fourth in about six years with Blue Note, he’s joined by three key musicians whose individual voices are just as strong: John Medeski on Hammond and piano, Jorge Roeder on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums and cymbals. Each brings a deep history of genre-crossing work, but here they function as a true quartet rather than a leader-plus-sidemen vehicle. Another frequent Lage collaborator, keyboardist Patrick Warren adds piano, bells, percussion, dulcitone, strings, rounding out the quartet's sound when needed.

Continuing in the spirit and wake of 2024's similarly low-key-but-inspired "Speak To Me", the album builds on the conversational language Lage has been refining in recent years, while welcoming the warmth and elasticity that Medeski’s keyboards and Wollesen’s scintillating drumming naturally provide. This is not a record about pioneering or reinvention: it's more about trust in the musicianship and the songs; its's about musicality, touch and collective listening.

The opening track “Opel” is worth the price of admission on its own. Lage lays out a melody of disarming simplicity, paired with a chord progression so elegant it inevitably invites Lennon–McCartney comparisons (“Blackbird” isn’t far from mind), though the tune never feels referential. It’s a statement of control and taste, delivered with the lightest possible touch.

From there, the band shifts gears. “Red Elm” kicks the quartet fully into motion, with sizzling cymbal work from Wollesen, a throbbing, grounded bass line from Roeder, and Medeski’s Hammond B3 sounds locking in around Lage’s mellow semi-acoustic Gibson. It’s quartet jazz at its most satisfying: elastic, responsive, and alive in the moment.

There’s no filler anywhere. Midway through, “Solid Air” appears (not a cover of John Martyn’s classic, but a new Lage composition), floating with the same sense of open sky and emotional ease. Later, “Oala” drifts south into lilting Tex-Mex guitar territory, while “Storyville” introduces a discordantly modernist edge without disturbing the album’s flow. The closing “Something More” returns to calm, offering another timeless standard-in-waiting.

Throughout Scenes From Above, the music steers a gentle course, but the interplay is anything but passive. It’s an exhibition of originality, balance and sheer delight. Five stars, without hesitation