A child prodigy, Julian Lage was the subject of the 1996 short documentary film Jules at Eight. At 12, he performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Three years later, he became a faculty member of the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University. Classically trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he has studied at Sonoma State University and the Ali Akbar College of Music. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2008.
In 2009 EmArcy released Julian’s debut album Sounding Point to favorable reviews. The recording was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award Best Contemporary Jazz Album. His second album, Gladwell, was released in April 2011, again to positive reviews. His first solo acoustic album, World’s Fair, was released in March 2015, and his fourth album, Arclight, was released on March 2016.
Julian has worked in a trio with Scott Colley and drummer Kenny Wollesen and has recorded duo albums with guitarists Chris Eldridge, Gyan Riley, and Nels Cline. For the 2017 guitar duo album Mount Royal, Lage and Eldridge received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. As a sideman, he has performed with Gary Burton, Terri Lyne Carrington, Taylor Eigsti, Eric Harland, Yoko Ono, and Charles Lloyd.
Currently, Julian is a Blue Note Records artist and is a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music. His projects at Blue Note Records include Squint, which was recently released and has received rave notices.