09.10. – Happy Birthday !!! Samo Salamon 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 200 compositions and recorded 22 albums as a leader for labels Clean Feed Records (Portugal), Fresh Sound New Talent (Spain), NotTwo Records (Poland), Splasch Records (Italy), Steeplechase Records (Denmark), Sanje Recordings (Slovenia), Klopotec (Slovenia) and Goga Records (Slovenia). So far he has played, toured and recorded with many great international players like John Scofield, Howard Levy, 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, Stefano Battaglia, Christian Lillinger, Pascal Niggenkemper, Matt Brewer, Loren Stillman, John O’Gallagher, Mikkel Ploug, Manu Codjia, Alex Machacek, Sabir Mateen, Szilard Mezei, Kariem Riggins, Luciano Biondini, Lester St. Louis, 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, Nicolas Muresu, 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, Boštjan Gombač, Igor Matkovic, Dre Hocevar, Domen Gnezda, Goran Krmac, Bojan Krhlanko and others.
From year 2000 until 2004 he was theleader of the jazz etno group Ansasa Trio, which 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.
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