The Danish guitarist Soren Lee sounds remarkably Scolike on his latest recording, Living Now (Stunt STUCD01132; 55:37). Lee’s slightly less distorted guitar-less than Scofield post-A Go Go, that is-and familiar phrasing, paired with Jesper Nordenstrom’s spacy organ, kicks this right into early ’90s Scofield and Larry Goldings territory. In fact, the title track and “Groove Commitment,” tight slices of face-twitching jazz-funk, would make for one damn unfair blindfold test. Fortunately, that’s not all the guitarist is up to on Living Now. Past the funky stuff, a set of quiet, plaintive tunes forms the core of this recording, finding Lee on acoustic guitar and in distinctive voice more often than not. The especially lyrical “Ballad for the Soul,” featuring Lelo Nika on accordion, highlights a decidedly un-Scolike Lee caught in one long moment of openhearted, folksy romanticism.
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