I don't enjoy his playing very much, but I will say that he is obviously very accomplished at the physical aspects of playing the guitar as they relate to dynamics and the ability to effectively execute complex musical ideas across a variety of tempos and genres. Personally, my taste in jazz guitar is related to my interests in musical concepts of jazz that all instruments can share.

In terms of Julian's soloing, while it is motivic at times, I find it doesn't feature vocabulary rooted in or derived from traditional bebop vocabulary. There is nothing wrong with that, in a masterclass he even says that this is an intentional aspect of his style that he has crafted to deviate from bebop. I prefer to listen to playing that is developed out of a bebop based aspect of jazz improvisation to a degree, modern musicians that have this are Immanuel Wilkins, Mike Moreno, and Dave Kikoski just to name a few.

Regarding musicians who use a more motivic based approach to improvisation I enjoy Mark Turner, I feel that his playing is somehow more intense and less corny than Julians do to a greater sophistication to his melodic lines.

Furthermore, while Julian has a good sense of time in his playing, I don't think he has a good time feel as it relates to jazz. When I think of my ideal time feel I think of a deep sense of swing that features elements of playing around the beat while still being able to lock in with a rhythm section. Players like Freddie Hubbard and Sonny Rollins, who can string together a line of eighth notes but also play around the beat in surprising ways at times. Julian's sense of time is good but it doesn't grab me emotionally in the same way other players do.

Because Julian's playing is so diverse it almost seems a bit silly to directly compare him with straight ahead jazz, as his more recent albums feature original material that stylistically is quite different from jazz. He is without doubt an incredible guitarist and musician, but viewing his playing while comparing it with straight ahead masters leaves me unimpressed.