Mount Royal

What to call the music played by the two guitar virtuosos Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge? Chamber-folk? Jazz? Alt-Americana? What about all the deep shades of gospel, flamenco, blues, Gypsy and country music in the mix? Not to mention the Bach and the Doc Watson and the Chet Atkins and… you probably get the idea. While the most prominent roots of Lage and Eldridge's music are bluegrass and jazz, Mount Royal's dozen tracks alchemically meld myriad genres, styles and influences into a beautifully intricate mosaic. By applying a swinging groove and Eldridge's high lonesome vocals to tunesmith Dennis Brown's ‘Things in Life’, a reggae standard is transformed into a song that would pass as a standard on a bluegrass compilation. ‘Henry’, one of nine original compositions on the album, lopes along in a whimsical, kicking-the-can-down-a-dirt-road kind of way, painting a vivid portrait of a rambling character without any words. ‘Rygar’ showcases the duo's extraordinary ability to conduct a musical conversation as technically compelling as it is emotionally satisfying. One of the highlight performances during the recent Savannah Music Festival, Lage and Eldridge have something extraordinary going on, no matter what it's called.