Samo Šalamon
is "one of the most talented and interesting young guitarists and
composers to emerge on today's jazz scene" (AllAboutJazz), being
selected by the magazine Guitar Player as one of the hottest 10 new
guitarists in the world. He began his musical journey by studying
classical guitar in Maribor. In December 2000 he was living with and
studying individually for one month in New York with the jazz master
John Scofield, with whom he has been a friend for years. Through the
years he was studying guitar and had lessons with known guitar players
such as Rudy Linka, Tim Brady and Andrea Allione. So far he has composed
more than 180 compositions and recorded 18 albums as a leader for
labels Fresh Sound New Talent (Spain), Splasch Records (Italy),
Steeplechase Records (Denmark), Sanje Recordings (Slovenia) and Goga
Records (Slovenia). So far he has played, toured and recorded with many
great international players like John Scofield, Paul McCandless, John
Hollenbeck, Mark Turner, Michel Godard, Nguyen Le, Drew Gress, Tony
Malaby, Mark Helias, Tom Rainey, Tim Berne, Donny McCaslin, Dave Binney,
Josh Roseman, Gerald Cleaver, John Hebert, Julian Arguelles, Dominique
Pifarely, Carlo DeRosa, Tyshawn Sorey, Bruno Chevillon, Matt Brewer,
Loren Stillman, John O'Gallagher, Mikkel Ploug, Manu Codjia, Alex
Machacek, Sabir Mateen, Kariem Riggins, Luciano Biondini, Jim Mullen,
Dejan Terzic, Rudi Mahall, Fareed Haque, Don Falzone, Rudy Linka, Tim
Brady, Paolino Dalla Porta, Ares Tavolazzi, Roberto Dani, Wilbert De
Joode, Joris Teepe, Bruno Cesselli, Zlatko Kaucic, Salvatore Maiore,
Kyle Gregory, Emanuele Cisi, Gianluca Petrella, Achille Succi, Steve
Altenberg, Yayoi Ikawa, Kruno Levacic, Igor Lumpert, Dusan Novakov,
Andrea Allione, Axel Dörner, Uli Jennesen, Loris Bertot, Jan Rhoder,
Danilo Gallo, Dejan Pecenko, Alex Deutsch, Luigi Mosso, Aya Shimura,
Francesco Bigoni, Giorgio Pacorig, Vasko Atanasovski, Robert Jukic, Jure
Pukl, Nino Mureskic, Aljosa Jeric, Igor Matkovic, Dre Hocevar, Bojan
Krhlanko and others.
From year 2000 until 2004 he also as a leader of the jazz etno group
Ansasa Trio, with which he published a CD in 2002 under the name Ansasa
Trio: Arabian Picnic. In 2003 he released the highly aclaimed album
Ornethology with his new quartet (Achille Succi, Salvatore Maiore,
Zlatko Kaucic), which was featured at the jazz festivals Ljubljana,
Skopje and Rome and got fantastic reviews from Europe and from the USA,
being also album of the week in the highly acclaimed jazz magazine All
About Jazz and among Top Ten Selections in the Jazz Times magazine.
Ornethology got the highest rating (4 stars) in the Penguin Jazz Guide
and was also selected by the Penguin Jazz Guide as one of the 1001 Best
Albums in the history of jazz (Penguin Jazz Guide: The History of the
Music in the 1001 Best Albums).
In April 2004 Samo Salamon had his first bigger European tour with a
fantastic new sextet featuring Dave Binney (USA), Paolino Dalla Porta
(Italy), Kyle Gregory (USA), Achille Succi (Italy) and Zlatko Kaucic
(Slovenia). The band got again brilliant reviews from all over the
world. From the tour the CD Ela's Dream was released in April 2005 on
the Italian label Splasc(h) Records. The record again received great
reviews and got the honor of being album of the week on All About Jazz
as well as receiving the highest rating (4 stars) in the Penguin Jazz
Guide.
In the end of 2004 Samo went again to New York for two months, where he
played in various jazz clubs (Detour, 55 Bar) and recorded there two new
projects as a leader with some of the best jazz musicians in the world:
one with Tony Malaby, Mark Helias and Tom Rainey, and the other one
with Dave Binney, Josh Roseman, Mark Helias and Gerald Cleaver. The
first project was released on Fresh Sound Records in early 2006 as Samo
Salamon Quartet: Two Hours, receiving rave reviews from all over the
world again, especially in magazines like Downbeat, Musica Jazz,
Allaboutjazz and others. The second project was released in fall 2006
again on Fresh Sound Records as Samo Salamon NYC Quintet: Government
Cheese. Like Ornethology and Ela's Dream, Government Cheese also got the
highest rating (4 stars) in the Penguin Jazz Guide.
In 2005 Samo had a longer European tour with a new quartet featuring
Achille Succi (Italy), Carlo DeRosa and Tyshawn Sorey from the USA. The
result of the tour was a new CD Samo Salamon New Quartet: Kei's Secret
released in 2006 on Splasch Records. The record only strengthened
Salamon's status as one of the best young jazz guitarists and composers
in the world.
Salamon started 2006 with the project (Michel Godard, Julian
Arguelles and Roberto Dani) with a performance in Cankarjev dom in
Ljubljana. The concert was recorded and released in 2007 on the Slovene
label Goga Musica as Samo Šalamon European Quartet: Nano. The record
also marked the beginning of Salamon's collaboration with the best tuba
player in the world, Michel Godard. The same year Salamon recorded
another record with Michel Godard, where also two Italian virtuosos
participated, accordion player Luciano Biondini and drummer Roberto
Dani. The record was released in 2007 on the Italian label Splasc(h)
Records as Samo Šalamon European Quartet: Fall Memories. That the year
2006 was really fruitful in Samo Salamon's work proves yet two another
excellent projects. In February 2006 Salamon had a European tour with an
excellent lineup (Mark Turner – tenor saxophone, Matt Brewer on bass
and drummer Aljoša Jerič). The band again recorded an album Mamasaal
feat. Mark Turner which was released in late 2008. In the end of 2006
Salamon had another European tour in Switzerland, Belgium, Germany,
Slovenia and Great Britain, which featured two stars from the jazz
world, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey. The project was
recorded in Switzerland and was released in 2011 by the label Sanje as
Samo Salamon Trio feat. Drew Gress & Tom Rainey: Almost Almond. The
CD received great reviews from the USA and Europe, strengthening
Salamon's reputation as one of the best guitarists in Europe.
In 2007 Salamon had two European tours with two new projects. In May
2007 he had a tour in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia and
Belgium with his New Quartet (Donny McCaslin, John Hebert and Gerald
Cleaver), which again received amazing reviews. The band recorded a live
album, which is waiting to be released. Salamon finished 2007 with a
promotional tour of his two 2007 records. The group featured again
Michel Godard on tuba, and two excellent players – french violinist
Dominique Pifarely and drummer Dejan Terzić.
The year 2008 began with a longer European tour with the jazz legend Tim
Berne and drummer Tom Rainey. In 2011, the CD SAMO SALAMON BASSLESS
TRIOS: Duality (Samo Records, 2011) with Tim Berne, Tom Rainey, Achille
Succi & Roberto Dani was released featuring a US and a European
Bassless Trio.
In 2009, Samo Salamon had a trio featuring the best tuba player in the
world Michel Godard and drummer Roberto Dani. The band recorded a live
CD Live!, which was released in the end of 2009. The same trio played on
jazz festival Ljubljana and Maribor in 2010 and had a long European
tour in Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Germany and Slovenia also in
2011. The band recorded a new CD Samo Salamon Trio feat. Michel Godard
& Roberto Dani was released in September 2012. In 2013, Samo Salamon
released a new CD entitled SAMO SALAMON QUARTETS: Stretching Out
featuring 2 amazing bands - a US one with Donny McCaslin, John Hebert
and Gerald Cleaver and a European one with Dominique Pifarely, Bruno
Chevillon and Roberto Dani.
Since 2001, Samo Salamon has regularly had tours and played all over the
world in many world recognized venues, clubs and festivals in Europe
(Italy, France, Germany, Austria, UK, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia,
Czech Republic, Romania, Liechtenstein, Croatia, Macedonia…) and USA,
which again showes his strong reputation in the world of jazz. He has
released 14 projects as a leader, which all featured his own
compositions - so far, Samo has composed more than 140 compositions.