Samo Šalamon (born October 9, 1978, in Maribor, Slovenia) is a Slovenian jazzcomposer, guitarist, and bandleader. He has performed on over 35 releases and is credited with over 300 compositions.[1]
Biography
Šalamon started playing the guitar at the age of seven and studied classical guitar in Maribor, a large city in Slovenia, until the age of 15. He continued his studies at the University of Ljubljana, where he obtained a PhD in the field of American poetry and translation. During his time at college, he became interested in jazz and improvisation.[1]
Šalamon regularly toured Europe 2–3 times per year. His groups included various European and American jazz musicians. He has maintained long musical relationships with French tubist Michel Godard, American reed player and founding member of the group Oregon Paul McCandless, saxophonists Achille Succi and Tony Malaby, drummer Roberto Dani, and pianist Stefano Battaglia.[5] In his later work, Šalamon regularly mixed modern composition and improvisation,[6] as seen in his latest projects, such as duos with guitarist Hasse Poulsen[7] and clarinetist Francois Houle,[8] his European sextet for Clean Feed Records – The Colors Suite[9] featuring Julian Arguelles, Achille Succi, Pascal Niggenkemper and the drummers Christian Lillinger and Roberto Dani, as well as a large free orchestra, composed of European improvisers, including Fredrik Ljungkvist, Luis Vicente, Albert Cirera, Martin Küchen and others.
Šalamon recorded the album Dolphyology,[11] which is a collection of Eric Dolphy's music played on solo acoustic guitar.[12] The album features 28 compositions by Eric Dolphy, rearranged for acoustic guitar, ranging from the avant-garde to the highly lyrical.[13]
In June 2022, Šalamon released Pure and Simple, a trio album with Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen and American drummer Ra-Kalam Bob Moses, followed by an extensive European tour in October 2022.[14]
Style
Salamon's fluid style of guitar playing is primarily based on his studies of jazz saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy, demonstrated on his first two albums Ornethology[15] and Ela's Dream, where his playing has been described as having a "quirky yet intriguing original sound."[16] His early guitar playing is influenced by guitarist and mentor John Scofield, while also drawing inspiration from players like John Abercrombie, Ben Monder, Adam Rogers, and Bill Frisell. His compositional style draws from different areas of jazz as well as modern classical composers; such as Bela Bartok, Witold Lutoslawski, and Olivier Messiaen.
Discography
Release year
Title
Label
Line-up
2024
Dances of Freedom
Samo Records
Vasil Hadžimanov, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses
2023
State of Grace
Samo Records
Bruce Saunders
2023
Electric Duo
Samo Records
Martin Speake
2023
Eating Poetry
Clean Feed Records
Emanuele Parrini, Vasco Trilla
2023
Rainbow Bubbles
Samo Records
Asaf Sirkis
2022
Before It Rains
Samo Records
Cene Resnik, Jost Drasler, Bojan Krhlanko
2022
Pure and Simple
Samo Records
Arild Andersen, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses
2022
Dolphyology
Samo Records
solo acoustic guitar
2022
Free Distance, Vol. 2: Poems are Opening
Fundacja Sluchaj
Emanuele Marsico, Alberto Mandarini, Mirko Cisilino, Luís Vicente, Emanuele Parrini, Marco Colonna, Achille Succi, Albert Cirera, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Christoph Irniger, Alberto Pinton, Beppe Scardino, Martin Küchen, Samo Salamon, Marcelo Dos Reis, Silvia Bolognesi, Vasco Trilla
2022
Joy and Sorrow
Klopotec Records
Samo Salamon, Sabir Mateen
2021
Unobservable Mysteries
Afterday Records
Samo Salamon, Francois Houle
2021
String Dancers
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Hasse Poulsen
2021
Timelessness
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Cene Resnik, Bojan Krhlanko
2020
Free Distance, Vol. 1: Love is More Thicker
Samo Records
Emanuele Marsico, Alberto Mandarini, Mirko Cisilino, Luís Vicente, Emanuele Parrini, Marco Colonna, Achille Succi, Albert Cirera, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Christoph Irniger, Alberto Pinton, Beppe Scardino, Martin Küchen, Samo Salamon, Marcelo Dos Reis, Silvia Bolognesi, Vasco Trilla
2020
Almost Alone Vol. 1
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Alex Machacek, Rafal Sarnecki, Cenk Erdogan, Andre Fernandes, Kalle Kalima, Jacob Young, Albert Vila, Dušan Jevtović, Lorenzo Di Maio, Philipp Schaufelberger, Spiros Exaras
2020
Common Flow
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Igor Matković, Kristijan Krajnčan
2020
Rare Ebb
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Igor Matković, Kristijan Krajnčan
2019
Punk You
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Eva Poženel, Achille Succi, Bojan Krhlanko
2019
Swirling Blind Unstilled
Klopotec Records
Samo Salamon, Szilard Mezei, Jaka Berger
2019
Free Sessions Vol. 2: Freequestra
Klopotec Records
Samo Salamon, Matija Krecic, Bostjan Simon, Achille Succi, Ziga Murko, Domen Gnezda, Vitja Balzalorsky, Marko Crncec, Goran Krmac, Bojan Krhlanko, Jaka Berger
2018
Pure Magic
Alessa Records
Samo Salamon, Stefano Battaglia
2018
Peaks of Light
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Howard Levy
2018
Traveling Moving Breathing
Clean Feed Records
Samo Salamon, Tony Malaby, Roberto Dani
2017
Free Sessions Vol. 1: Planets of Kei
Not Two Records
Samo Salamon, Achille Succi, Szilard Mezei
2017
The Colours Suite
Clean Feed Records
Samo Salamon, Julian Arguelles, Achille Succi, Pascal Niggenkemper, Christian Lillinger, Roberto Dani
2016
windS
Klopotec Records
Samo Salamon, Stefano Battaglia
2016
Unity
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Julian Arguelles, John Hollenbeck
2015
Little River
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Paul McCandless, Roberto Dani
2014
Ives
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Manu Codjia, Mikkel Ploug
2014
2 Alto
Steeplechase Records
Samo Salamon, Loren Stillman, John O'Gallagher, Roberto Dani
2014
Orchestrology
KGOSF Records
Samo Salamon, Roberto Dani, Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra
2013
Stretching Out
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Donny McCaslin, Dominique Pifarely, Bruno Chevillon, John Hebert, Gerald Cleaver, Roberto Dani
2012
Eleven Stories
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Michel Godard, Roberto Dani
2011
Duality
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Tim Berne, Achille Succi, Tom Rainey, Roberto Dani
2011
Almost Almond
Sanje Records
Samo Salamon, Drew Gress, Tom Rainey
2009
Live!
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Michel Godard, Roberto Dani
2008
Mamasaal feat. Mark Turner
Dometra Records
Samo Salamon, Mark Turner, Matt Brewer, Aljoša Jerič
2007
Fall Memories
Splasc(h) Records
Samo Salamon, Luciano Biondini, Michel Godard, Roberto Dani
2007
Nano
Goga Records
Samo Salamon, Julian Arguelles, Michel Godard, Roberto Dani
2006
Government Cheese
Fresh Sound New Talent
Samo Salamon, David Binney, Josh Roseman, Mark Helias, Gerald Cleaver
2006
Kei's Secret
Splasc(h) Records
Samo Salamon, Achille Succi, Carlo DeRosa, Tyshawn Sorey
2005
Two Hours
Fresh Sound New Talent
Samo Salamon, Tony Malaby, Mark Helias, Tom Rainey
2005
Ela's Dream
Splasc(h) Records
Samo Salamon, Achille Succi, David Binney, Kyle Gregory, Paolino Dalla Porta, Zlatko Kaučič
2003
Ornethology
Samo Records
Samo Salamon, Achille Succi, Salvatore Maiore, Zlatko Kaučič