Soren Dahl Jeppesen: Route One

The new wave of Danish jazz has brought several guitarists into the public eye, among them, Jakob Bro, Mark Solborg, and Mikkel Ploug. However, a somewhat underexposed talent on the Danish jazz scene is Søren Dahl Jeppesen. His graceful, lyrical tone and abilities as a composer have benefitted the ambient chamber jazz of the group Pauseland.

Route One is Jeppesen's first album as a leader, and it finds him doing what he does best: creating subtle musical moods and simple, enchanting melodies. As both a player and composer, Jeppesen stays close to Bro, so it's no coincidence that he has enlisted the guitarist's trio, also including ubiquitous bassist Anders Christensen and drummer Jakob Høyer, as the backing for his own project. Together the two guitarists weave delicately intertwined lines, but the heart of the matter is the melody. The slowly breathing meditations of "Catch 22" and "Sound Bite" seem to be spun out of the finest silk and are highlighted by Óskar Gudjónsson's whispery saxophone.

"Carte Blanche," with its splashing tambourine and western twang, recalls a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. As a whole, in fact, the album is predominantly cinematic, with a tone that could be described as Nordic noir: late night moods that invite contemplation and quietness.

With Route One, Dahl Jeppesen has succeeded in making a blissful oasis of sound.