SQUINT (CLASSICS DIRECT & SPECIALISTS, SOV EXL. LP)

Vinyl LP pressing. Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage makes his Blue Note debut with an album that weds incisive, expressive songwriting with the profound interplay of his trio featuring Jorge Roeder and Dave King. The trio planned to record after a Village Vanguard residency in January 2020 but were delayed by the pandemic. Lage retooled the songs in light of the summer's lockdown and protests over social justice. By the time he recorded the album in August, the tunes had taken on a deeper air of mystery and searching.