Samo Šalamon

Samo Šalamon (born 9 October 1978 in Maribor, Slovenia) is a Slovenian jazz composer, guitarist and interviewer. He has performed on over 35 albums and is credited with over 300 compositions.

In 1999, Šalamon met jazz guitarist John Scofield, who became a collaborator and influence on his musical development. In the early 2000s, Šalamon began performing and recording with musicians from the New York jazz scene, including Tim Berne, David Binney, Josh Roseman, Tony Malaby, Mark Helias, Tom Rainey, Gerald Cleaver, Tyshawn Sorey, John Hebert, Donny McCaslin, and others. In 2003, he recorded Ornethology, his debut album, featuring a European quartet with Achille Succi, Salvatore Maiore, and Zlatko Kaučič. With this group, he performed at the Ljubljana Jazz Festival, Roma Jazz Festival, and Skopje Jazz Festival. The album Ornethology was included in The Penguin Guide to Jazz list of the 1001 Best Albums in the History of Jazz.

Šalamon performed extensively across Europe, collaborating with both European and American jazz musicians, including French tubist Michel Godard, American reed player Paul McCandless, saxophonists Achille Succi and Tony Malaby, drummer Roberto Dani, and pianist Stefano Battaglia. His work has incorporated elements of modern composition and improvisation. His projects have included duos with guitarist Hasse Poulsen and clarinetist Francois Houle, and a European sextet on the album The Colours Suite, featuring Julian Arguelles, Achille Succi, Roberto Dani, Pascal Niggenkemper, and Christian Lillinger. He also led a large improvisational orchestra with members such as Fredrik Ljungkvist, Luis Vicente, Albert Cirera, and Martin Küchen.

Šalamon has recorded for European jazz labels such as Clean Feed Records, Fresh Sound New Talent, Not Two Records, SteepleChase Records, and Splasc(h) Records. As a composer, he developed projects synthesizing contemporary jazz, classical music, and free improvisation.

In 2022, Šalamon recorded the album Dolphyology, a collection of Eric Dolphy's music played on solo acoustic guitar. The album features 28 compositions by Eric Dolphy, rearranged for acoustic guitar, ranging from avant-garde to lyrical. In June 2022, Šalamon released Pure and Simple, a collaborative trio album featuring Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen and American drummer Ra-Kalam Bob Moses. The album was followed by a European tour in October 2022.

Style

Šalamon's guitar style is influenced by his studies of jazz saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy, evident in his first two albums, Ornethology and Ela's Dream. His early guitar playing was influenced by guitarist John Scofield and musicians like John Abercrombie, Ben Monder, Adam Rogers, and Bill Frisell. His compositional style draws from different areas of jazz and modern classical composers such as Béla Bartók, Witold Lutosławski, and Olivier Messiaen.

Discography