“ It's a lot of swing-based music. A lot of this record is a study of, frankly, medium swing. 4/4 music. It's more centered on that time feel and that cadence. So, if you have something like "Boo's Blues" or "Squint" or "Familiar Flower" or "Short Form," they're all kind of orbiting the same DNA, feel-wise. (…) It's not about locking together. It's kind of like everyone has their own place, own tempo, own variation, and it just kind of goes and builds this beautiful tension. (…) That's a major musical context: Looking at the same feel from different perspectives. ”
– Julian Lage (Grammys, 9th June 2021)

“ It has a lot to do with music that lives at the intersection of … great songs, however we define that, with robust and in-depth improvisational vocabularies. It’s not an either-or thing, when we look to the masters on Blue Note. That’s the imagine that comes to my mind when I think of Joe Henderson, or McCoy, or Grant Green, anybody, Wayne, and Herbie – it’s like, the two worlds being at peace with one another. This record was definitely intended to honor that intersection, more than anything else. The songs need to be there, but the improvising needs to be as distinct. ”
– Julian Lage (Blue Note Records interview, 11th June 2021)

album: Squint (2021)
artist: Julian Lage
writers: Music by Julian Lage (1-4, 6-10), Johnny Mandel & Johnny Mercer (5), Billy Hill (11)

electric guitar: Julian Lage
· guitar model: Collings 470 JL
· string guage: D’Addario, EXL115, 11-49 Medium, XL Nickel Wound
double bass: Jorge Roeder
(drums: Dave King)
producers: Armand Hirsch & Margaret Glaspy