Ahmad Mansour

In a dozen recordings as leader over the past 20 years, Iranian born American guitarist and composer Ahmad Mansour has distinguished himself as a leading light of modern jazz guitar on the New York and European music scenes. His past outings like 1993's Penumbra, 2002's Nightlight and last year's Short Cuts garnered rave reviews from critics worldwide who praised his harmonic sophistication and dazzling single note facility. But while his earlier records were often steeped in ECM-ish mystique and sublime lyricism