Articles

Guitarist Lage Lund on how musicians communicate

By Leo Sidran

Lage Lund: Idlewild

By Andrew Luhn

Guitarist Lage Lund's previous two albums as a leader for the Criss Cross label utilized the quartet setting with Ben Street on bass, Bill Stewart on drums, and Aaron Parks on piano for 2013's Foolhardy and Edward Simon in the piano chair for 2009's Unlikely Stories. For 2015's release “Idlewild" Lund brings back his familiar rhythm section of Street and Stewart but omits the piano, opting for a guitar trio approach on twelve tunes, a mixture of originals and standards. ...

Lage Lund: Looking Forward

By Matthew Warnock

Growing up in Norway, a young Lage Lund dreamt of moving to New York, though not to play guitar, but to break dance in the NY subway system. Luckily for jazz guitar fans, this dream was never realized. Instead, Lund picked up the guitar at the age of thirteen and hasn't looked back. Since then, he has recorded on numerous records as a sideman, released three albums under his own name, and won the most prestigious jazz competition in the ...

Lage Lund: Unlikely Stories

By David Lighton

It is a great pleasure to watch the evolution of a musician--to witness the synthesis and refinement of ideas. And so it has been the case with Norwegian-born guitarist Lage Lund--who, in three short years of recording as a leader, has arrived at a new creative plateau.

Lund's first two recordings, Standards (Self Produced, 2007), and Early Songs (Criss Cross, 2008), displayed the guitarist's uniquely current sense of swing, and considerable technique. They cemented his burgeoning reputation as a force ...

Lage Lund: Early Songs

By Terrell Kent Holmes

It's clear from the first notes of guitarist Lage Lund's Early Songs that he's an unwavering acolyte of classic jazz. This excellent quintet recording is an inspired, energetic blend of standards and contemporary tunes grounded in the hard-bop tradition. . Lund displays fire and vibrancy on “You Do Something to Me," playing riffs and building ideas as clear as a bell. The band's version of Bud Powell's contagiously cheerful “Celia" has excellent interplay among Lund, pianist Danny ...

Lage Lund: Early Songs

By Mark F. Turner

Never judge a book (or jazz recording) by its cover, as the inconspicuous album portrait of Lage Lund's Early Songs is little indication of the music's impressive content. From Norway, Lund resides in New York and has performed within traditional boundaries (Mingus Big Band, Wynton Marsalis, Ron Carter) and newly progressive terrains (Jaleel Shaw, Seamus Blake, and David Sanchez). The winner of 2005's Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition, Lund's guitar acumen is informed of Pat Metheny, Pat Martino and ...