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Samo Salamon Trio: Almost Almond

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Sanje Publishers
Released: 2011
Time:
 69:33
Category: Modern Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.samosalamon.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Monkey Hands - 6:12
[2] Lastovo - 9:24
[3] My Amusing Muse - 6:00
[4] Dutilleux - 8:34
[5] Pleiades - 6:07
[6] Too Emotional for This World - 8:02
[7] Drewish - 5:16
[8] The Small Buddhist - 3:51
[9] The Ladybird Is Yawing - 6:52
[10] Monderous - 6:27
[11] Almost Almond - 2:48

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Samo Salamon - Guitar
Drew Gress - Bass
Tom Rainey - Drums

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Samo Salamon has been compared to everybody from Ben Monder, John Scofield and John Abercrombie, to Sonny Sharrock and Tal Farlow. This list, referencing a group of guitarists that have little in common, will leave plenty of people scratching their heads, but it points to the fact that this young Slovenian guitarist knows no bounds. Salamon seems intent on avoiding any one label, as proven by his string of albums in the new millennium, mixing European and American artists with great results.

The music on Almost Almond covers a lot of ground, moving from gritty, distorted lines to spacious sonic pastures, and Salamon couldn't have asked for a more flexible and creative rhythm team. Bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey have worked together in some highly creative environments before, most notably with saxophonist Tim Berne, and here they combine freedom and focus in a way that few teams can match. Multiple pieces on this album reflect a duality, where the music can simultaneously be viewed as a trio performance and three solo performances at the same time. In other places, these musicians leave no doubt that they are charting the same course.

The album opener, "Monkey Hands," which begins with some fine rhythmic interplay between Salamon and Rainey, shows off several sides of the guitarist's sound. He starts with a fairly straightforward approach, throws in some sonic swells behind Gress' solo, and comes on with a bit of distortion for his only Scofield-esque solo on the album. In contrast, the follow-up, "Lastovo," features his most reverberant tones.

Salamon salutes several of his musical influences here, paying homage to French composer Henri Dutilleux, on "Dutilleux," with an angular, noisy nod, and delivering a firecracker of a performance in honor of guitarist Ben Monder with "Monderous." Even Gress gets his own tribute with the humorously named "Drewish."

In other places, Salamon manages to deliver pretty pieces that avoid normal ballad trappings ("Almost Almond" and "Too Emotional For This World"), and unique amalgamations within the trio context. "My Amusing Muse," which bookends a classically-influenced arco episode from Gress with trio work that builds around Morse code-like rhythm work from Salamon, is one such example.

The music on Almost Almond lives and breathes organically, and moves along paths that have been expertly paved by one of the finest young guitarists in all of Europe.

DAN BILAWSKY, AllAboutJazz.com
January 18, 2011



It's starting to feel as if the further guitarist Salamon Salamon progresses in his career, the faster the company he keeps. On this trio date, he's working with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey, both with numerous appearances on record to their credit. But Salamon isn't out of his depth; this is a trio that speaks with one voice.

It would be wrong, however, to infer that this is upright music. Salamon is arguably a little indebted to both John Abercrombie and Kurt Rosenwinkel, but the names are mere pointers in view of his rhythmic conception, which in itself proves enough to keep the essentially disjointed "My Amusing Muse" both reflective and loose. Gress puts in some of his most effective work of the program with his bow, while the leader takes a back seat.

But Salamon can burn too, as he proves on the opening "Monkey Hands" where he turns in a performance which avoids all clichés as naturally as breathing. The way in which he brings his harmonic knowledge to bear makes all the difference, but this music relies upon a group effort to succeed, ensuring that the leader doesn't hog the spotlight.

"Too Emotional For This World" is underscored by a certain fragility which, in lesser hand,s might quickly become soporific. As is generally his way, Salamon's lyricism is uncontrived, but again it's the effort of all three players that ensures this music works. Gress is fulsome, though not to the point where he's the focal point, while the barely-there Rainey highlights how it's possible to be minimally compelling.

In its own quiet way, "The Small Buddhist" hints vaguely at the influence of British guitarist Phil Lee on Salamon, but again he's so much his own man that the name is no more than a point of reference. The energy level goes up slightly on this one but, given the essentially sly, allusive nature of this trio's art, that's only relatively speaking.

Besides being an evocative title "The Ladybird Is Yawning" hints tantalizingly at freer territories before moving as close inside as this trio ever gets. Even when it does, though, it's all a matter of momentum deferred and time suspended before the trio is back in another place. In lesser hands such diversity might come on like something contrived, but as in the case of everything here, the trio pulls it off with panache.

Nic Jones - February 10, 2011
AllAboutJazz.com
 

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