song: Mantra
artist: Julian Lage
album: The Layers (2023)
writer: Julian Lage

electric guitar, lead: Julian Lage
double bass: Jorge Roeder

(electric guitar, backing: Bill Frisell)
(drums: Dave King)

This is a transcription of the lead guitar and bass on “Mantra”. (The backing guitar part by Bill Frisell is not included, simply because it is so abstract and effects-based that a sheet-music transcription would be rather useless.) This tune a rubato piece whose short repeating movements add up to a meditative movement, and amidst this Julian Lage’s guitar solo rises above and breaks into an gorgeous musical burst. Enjoy!

“[There] were these 6 songs that were less declarative and maybe a tad more ephemeral, songs that just kind of ooze into being, a song like Mantra or Let Every Room Sing. (…) The writ material is tiny, only a few seconds long, so the majority of the piece is improvised. (…) From my point of view, I think of them as having a bias towards free improvisation, with these melodies that kind of get us started. ”
– Julian Lage, on the podcast Music Maker and Soul Shakers, Ep. 152, by Steve Dawson (1 Nov, 2023)