SAMO SALAMON NEW QUARTET:
Kei's Secret (2006)

SAMO SALAMON QUARTET:
Two Hours (2006)

Splasch Records 2006



Achille Succi - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Samo Salamon - guitar
Carlo DeRosa - bass
Tyshawn Sorey- drums

• When We Go Away                       8.33 (Salamon)
• Catch The Train                              9.04 (Salamon)
• The Return To X-Land                   2.47 (Salamon)
• Miss Sarcasm                                 11.26 (Salamon)
• Kei's Secret                                    3.41 (Salamon)
• A Step Back                                  13.36 (Salamon)
• The Gig Of Josh                             4.31 (Salamon)
• Dancing Dust                                  7.11 (Salamon)
• My Rain                                         4.31 (Salamon)
• The Girl With A Nicotine Kiss 2.17 (Salamon)
• Pyramid                                              7.11 (Salamon)

Fresh Sound Records 2005

BUY THE CD:
www.freshsoundrecords.com (FSNT 234)

Tony Malaby - tenor saxophone
Samo Salamon - guitar
Mark Helias - bass
Tom Rainey - drums

1. Empty Heart     5.59 (Salamon)
2. One For Steve Lacy     5.39 (Salamon)
3. A Melody For Her     6.14 (Salamon)
4. Does David Know He's Not Brown?     3.58 (Salamon)
5. Where's The Bill?     3.38 (Salamon)
6. Silence Of The Poets     5.07 (Salamon)
7. Mind Breezer     4.23 (Salamon)
8. Blink     5.44 (Salamon)
9. The Lonely Tune     7.33 (Salamon)
10.Coffee With A Girl     5.00 (Salamon)

Recorded by Mike Marciano at Systems Two in Brooklyn, New York on November 17th 2004

CRITICS:
 

Splasch Records 2005

BUY THE CD:
www.splaschrecords.com (under number H869)

www.jazzos.com/products0.php?module=artists&artist=502130

Dave Binney - alto saxophone
Kyle Gregory - trumpet
Achille Succi - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Samo Salamon - guitar
Paolino Dalla Porta - bass
Zlatko Kaucic - drums, percussion

1. Coffee With A Girl        18.25 (Salamon)
2. Emotional Playground        15.22 (Salamon) 
3. There's Still Dog Food Left In It        15.34 (Salamon) 
4. Ela's Dream        19.53 (Salamon)
5. Broken Windows        10.20 (Salamon)

CRITICS:

"With Ela's Dream, young Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon has made an album that is not only top shelf, it may be important as well. With its variety, movement, and sheer joyous energy, this program presents jazz as a music of almost infinite possibilies."
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, April 2005)

"He adds an almost dizzying energy, and he swings hard. The net effect is what Ornette Coleman might sound like if his primary instrument were guitar instead of alto saxophone."
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, April 2005)

"Further, his compositions, with their changing tempos, time signatures, and multiple themes, give the album a nearly epic sweep." 
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, April 2005)

"...a Salamon and Kaucic duet that, with its power and intensity, recalls Trane and Elvin Jones reaching for the stars. Only it's not; it's something new that could only have come from these musicians, in this time."
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, April 2005)

"But Samo Salamon is just bursting from energy and creative ideas."
(POLET, Jure Potokar, April 2005)

"The record brings music which is greatly composed, sunny and daring, and at moment it almost amazes because of its imaginative concepts, techinally brilliant playing and surprising interplay of all musicians."
(POLET, Jure Potokar, April 2005)

"The music is therefore full of innovation, amusing and productive improvisation contents: it is especially the result of the flexibility and strong knowledge of the musicians, who can be part of the group play, but can at the same time run into individual experiments."
(DELO, Gregor Bauman, April 2005)

Samo Records 2003
distribution by Statera

Achille Succi - alto saxophone, bass clarinet
Samo Salamon - guitar
Salvatore Maiore - bass
Zlatko Kaucic - drums, percussion

1. A Fake Monk     8.32 (Salamon)
2. Alien Child     8.20 (Salamon) 
3. The Creative Force    10.53 (Salamon) 
4. Does Your Girlfriend Know You Play Free Jazz? 2.27 (Salamon/Succi/Maiore/Kaucic)
5. Out For A Walk    5.37 (Salamon)
6. Uncork The Bottle    3.29 (Salamon/Succi/Maiore/Kaucic)
7. Where’s The Bill?    5.07 (Salamon) 
8. Achille     1.03 (Succi)
9. Two Poles     4.21 (Salamon)
10. Major Salva     1.08 (Maiore)
11. Something Ology    5.33 (Salamon) 
12. Samoel     1.13 (Salamon)
13. Tribeca     6.38 (Salamon) 
14. Jaka The Dog    1.08 (Kaucic)
15. Humpty Dumpty    5.43 (Coleman)
16. Aguri – The Birthday Party   1.36 (Salamon/Succi/Maiore/Kaucic)

CRITICS:

»Šalamon is coming through on his own, using singular single note, chords, and ideas rendering various jazz undercurrents with resolve, depth and inventiveness. Never indulgent, disciplined and eager, Šalamon is major league material.«
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, November 2003)

»Samo Salamon is a young guitarist from Slovenia who may qualify as one of the hardest working musicians around. The result is a captivating program of contemporary jazz which, while there is some emphasis on free playing, has a construction and focus which puts it well ahead of other recordings of its kind. Think early 90s Blue Note Scofield, with less grease and blues and a more European aesthetic. As a writer, while the influences are also evident, he has managed to assimilate them with his own life experiences into something that is more distinctive and abstruse. Ornethology is strong evidence that Samo Salamon is a young musician to watch; with a maturity and vision greater than his years, there is little doubt that he is developing into an artist of consequence; the only hope is that he can break free of the barriers of his own country and garner the broader audience he so richly deserves.«
(John Kelman, JAZZREVIEW, October 2003)

»Album of the week!«
(ALL ABOUT JAZZ, November 2003)

»Very open music conceptually – great use of textures and sounds.«
(CHRIS POTTER, November 2003)

»A musical gift of great beauty.«
(ALL ABOUT JAZZ, September 2003)

»He is a composer and guitarist beyond his years, and a force to be reckoned with!«
(GOLDMINE MAGAZINE, Joe Milliken, December 2003)

»Ornethology is an album with active, forcing, creative and also aggresive music – however not letting beside the slower and relaxed moments. Ornethology takes the listener in the deeps of compositions full of interplay and tension and a strong group sound. It stands for all of the musicians that they have strong presence, high concentration and self-confidence in playing and experiment.«
(Carina Prange, JAZZDIMENSIONS, September 2003)

»I have to mention the line-up of the group , because it is not an everyday musical situation, but therefore also more interesting. Bass and drums playing together with guitar is not really so rare, however when we add the bass clarinet to that, then this is rather extraordinary. The criss-crossings of guitar and bass clarinet lines are beside the passages where the whole group goes into free improvisation the strongest moments on Ornethology. I have to say that there are no weak moments here!!«
(Josef Pepsch Muska, JAZZLIVE, September 2003)

»Considering his age and experience, both his writing and playing show a surprising degree of maturity; one wonders where he’ll be five years from now.«
(John Kelman, EJAZZ NEWS, September 2003)

»Leader of the new jazz generation.«
(SLOVENIA TIMES, November 2003)

"Ornette’s Slovenian Hands!"
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, November 2003)

»Ornette Coleman and John Scofield ought to be proud!«
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, November 2003)

»Jazz critics, however, ought to add this one to their “To Do” lists!«
(ALLABOUTJAZZ, October 2003)

»Jazz for the third Millenium.«
(SPEKTER, March 2003)

»These are superb musicians who play superbly together.«
(CADENCE, June 2001)

JAZZ TIMES TOP 10 RECORDINGS (critic Javier Antonio Quiñones Ortiz):
1.      Pablo Ablanedo #Alegría# (Fresh Sound New Talent)
2.      Tord Gustavsen Trio #Changing Places# (ECM)
3.      Abdoulaye N’Diaye #Taoue# (Enja)
4.      Elio Villafranca #Incantations# (Pimienta)
5.      Papo Vázquez Pirates Troubadours #Carnival In San Juan# (Cubop)
6.      Samo Šalamon Quartet #Ornethology# (Sazas)
7.      Truco & Zaperoko #Música Universal# (Libertad)
8.      Tino Derado #Luminescence# (Sunnyside)
9.      Poncho Sánchez #Out of Sight# (Concord Picante)
10.     Martin Scorsese #The Blues#(Hip-O)

»The young slovenian guitarist is probably the biggest surprise of slovenian music this year. He brings juicy music, which is a successful mix of jazz improvisation and tradition. By studying Ornette Coleman Salamon understands some of the more productive jazz concepts and thereby he writes tunes that are recognizable already at first listening. Equally important is that he has a totally recoginzable sound on his guitar, which is unlike anything we are used at the jazz guitar. This is visible especially when he is phrasing with the horn (he has a perfect and excellent relationship combination with bass clarinet player Achille Succi) or when he is playing solos, which are so unique and personal. If we add to this the important role of the drummer Zlatko Kaucic, we get a record that simply convinces!«
(Jure Potokar, PILOT, September 2003)

»The music on the album Ornethology is honest and playul and full of surprising turns. It is never boring or predictive, while it keeps the idea of harmolodics and gives each instrument the same stand in the group. It is also interesting that Salamon makes a tribute to Monk, but not in a cover of a tune, but with his own tune A Fake Monk, which perfectly starts the album with groovy rhythms and sharp and edgy sounds. There are some group improvisations on the album, although Salamon is the main composer of all the tunes. He finds himself perfectly beside the more experienced players and he is developing a musical langauage that is far more different than in his previous projects.«
(Mario Batelic, MUSKA, August 2003)

»Šalamon is a type of a modern musician, probably one of the most perspective in Slovenia, since his world of thoughts incorporates all positive guidelines: he thinks eclectic in plays music without any burdains, he gives the music his individual character and works more and more internationally and in an integrative and connective way.«
(David Braun, MUSKA, August 2003)

»Rich musicianship, witty music, a bit of John Scofield, who is Samo's role model and mentor, and music worthy of the name Ornette Coleman, is one of the nicest jazz production pearls around.«
(FINANCE, Gregor Bauman, October 2003)

"A real pleasant surprise was the performance of the young guitarist Samo Salamon with his Ornethology Quartet, where he promoted his new album and showed that he is turning in one of the most interesting Slovenian jazz musicians. Salamon plays the guitar in his own way, he likes to play unisono with the other soloist (this time with bass clarinet and alto saxophone player Achille Succi), beside that he has many creative ideas in imagination, so that we can expect a lot more from him. This stands also for the quartet, where great playing was offered from the bass player Luigi Mosso and the excellent drummer Zlatko Kaucic."
(Jure Potokar, DNEVNIK, June 2003)

"If I gather up the festival (Jan Garbarek, Evan Parker, Ron Carter), the best was heard from the home guitarist Samo Salamon and his Ornethology Quartet, which was definitely on eof the highlights of the festival. Samo Salamon is a definite proof that there is a new generation of musicians in Slovenia, who build their music on modern improvisation with all respect to the tradition. Great fusion of young energie in experienced cats, where Zlatko Kaucic functions as a mentor and whose drummers' qualities do not even have to be described. The group played with lots of imagination and creativity, it was enough daring and also enough melodically loose. Humoruos elements have sometimes subtly covered up the highlights, which were transfered from instrument to instrument and in the final phase it was an end a group improvisation in excellence."
(FINANCE, July 2003)

"And if experienced cats like Kaucic and Succi leave everything to the younger one, this is then definitely a proof of quality. The musicians in the project already show that the project is more jazzlike, already the title Ornethology also alludes the side of the project. Ornette's jazz is orthodox only from the perspective of time and  especially through Salamon's music we can follow a great symbiosis with new jazz, which is hard to define. But Salamon finds himself there really well with his guitar. This one usually really fast and accurate, but can also be soft and dreamy. How similar to John Scofield, with whom Salamon has learned for some time."
(Rok Juric, MUSKA, May 2003)

"Even more was a surprise the young Maribor guitarist Samo Salamon. His Ornethology Quartet (the name already tells us that it is a hommage to Ornette Coleman, although it alludes to ornithology) with the drummer and some kind of mentor Zlatko Kaucic, the recognized and known saxophone player Achille Succi and bassist Luigi Mosso (in the original lineup plays Salvatore Maiore) have introduced themselves with lively and listenable jazz, spiced up with modern and humorous interplays and parts in between. If we are at jazz and jazz guitar, we already after the first project of Samo Salamon almost definitely say that he is going to grow big."
(Darinko Kores Jacks, VECER, June 2003)

»The Ornethology Quartet is not only a proof that Salamon is one of the most creative slovenian musicians, but that the Ornethology Quartet is one of the rarest groups in Slovenia, which is opening doors to international jazz.«
(SKRITE NOTE – David Braun, May 2003)

»His guitar playing can be really fast and accurate, but he can also play really dreamy and softly.«
(TOLPA BUMOV – Rok Juric, May 2003)

Samo Records 2002
distribution by Statera

Samo Salamon - guitar
Vasko Atanasovski - flute, soprano saxophone (3,6,7)
Zmago Turica - violin (2)
Samo Pecar - bass
Andrej Hrvatin - percussion
Nino Mureskic - percussion (2,4)

1.   Leeloo     10.27 (Salamon)
2.   Fat Pakistani     7.06 (Salamon)
3.   Ten Camels     10.51 (Salamon)
4.   Arabian Picnic     8.29 (Salamon)
5.   On A Sunday Afternoon At 3 PM     6.06 (Salamon)
6.   Strange Logic Of A Strange Logic     9.42 (Salamon/Hrvatin)
7.   The Judgement Tower     10.52 (Salamon)

»Arabian Picnic is a production featuring the reinforced Ansasa Trio with strong-willed jazz proclivities, played mostly in relaxed tempos, with odd and familiar meters, novel rhythmic and percussive facilitations. The melodic enchantment and challenging depth borders into festive human jazz ethnicity…all within the elegant and fragrant guitar lines from Šalamon. It is a musical gift of great beauty, as is its opening counterpart, “Leeloo.” As refreshing as a dandelion salad, this recording is a fine example of how much jazz there is to hear out there as its future is now, and has been for a while now…«
(Javier Antonio Quiñones Ortiz, ALL ABOUT JAZZ, September 2003)

"The Ansasa trio is made up of musical "masters" from the Styrian end, these are percussionist Andrej Hrvatin, bass player Samo Pecar and guitarist, main author of the songs and the leader of the band Samo Šalamon. An interview with the latter was introduced on Pop vibracije pages a good year ago, when Arabian Picnic was yet a demo recoding. The most interesting data from the history of Šalamon's guitar study is without a doubt learning with famous american jazz guitarist John Scofield in New York. The guys from Ansasa were at that time intensively searching for the sponsors who would help them record the album and put it on the music shelves. They obviously succeeded. Thank God! Arabian Picnic is composed of very interesting and in respect to author's youth incredibly mature compositions, rather improvised musical mixture of jazz and traditional arabian, balcan, indian and other musical elements. Despite their complexity they astonishingly quickly stay in listener's ear. Very, very likeable!" 
(DNEVNIK, September 2002)

»Trio is in the pursuit of finding new ways of expression, making their own style, in which we find traditional music from all over the world, beside the interesting melodies they are especially fond of rhytmical grooves and changes, and as its stands they also incorporate elements of jazz and typical free improvisation.« 
(DELO, September 2002)

»Šalamon is a type of a modern musician, probably one of the most perspective in Slovenia, since his world of thoughts incorporates all positive guidelines: he thinks eclectic in plays music without any burdains, he gives the music his individual character and works more and more internationally and in an integrative and connective way.«
(David Braun, MUSKA, August 2003)

»Ansasa Trio is a slovenian band led by guitarist/composer Samo Salamon, who has over the years been learning guitar with such jazz masters as John Scofield, Rudy Linka or Tim Brady. In their music there are elements from different corners of the world: brasilian samba, fusion, arabian, african and indian influences, all that with the element of jazz, they play world music in its purest sense.« 
(CERKNO JAZZ FESTIVAL, May 2002)

»Ansasa Trio is young slovenian jazz-etno group, which has their own style of music, a mixture of improvisation, modern jazz and many others non-commercial and different musical approaches. They are a challenge to the musicians and to the listener.« (ASSKALLA, April 2002)

The Ansasa Trio Homepage:
http://www.geocities.com/ansasatrio/