SAMO SALAMON EUROPEAN QUARTET: Fall Memories (2007) Splasc(h) Records Michel Godard - tuba Samo Salamon - guitar Luciano Biondini - accordion Roberto Dani - drums

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Jerry D'Souza, January 2008):

SAMO SALAMON EUROPEAN QUARTET: Nano (2007) Zalozba Goga Records Julian Arguelles - tenor and soprano saxophone Michel Godard - tuba Samo Salamon - guitar Roberto Dani - drums

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Jerry D'Souza, January 2008):

SAMO SALAMON NYC QUINTET: Government Cheese (2006) Fresh Sound New Talent Dave Binney - alto sax Josh Roseman - trombone Samo Salamon - guitar Mark Helias - bass Gerald Cleaver - drums

SAMO SALAMON NEW QUARTET: Kei' Secret (2006) Splasch Records Achille Succi - alto sax, bass clarinet Samo Salamon - guitar Carlo DeRosa - bass Tyshawn Sorey - drums

ALLABOUTJAZZ (John Kelman, December 2006):

Since emerging from Slovenia four years ago, Samo Salamon has been stepping up the pace with increased vigor. The result is palpable growth, which is at its clearest on Kei’s Secret. The guitarist’s playing has never been more assured, nor his voice more unequivocally his own, than on this live recording re-teaming him with reedman Achille Succi.

The same can be said about his writing. Salamon emphasizes improvisation, but he's providing ever more sophisticated contexts to challenge both himself and his bandmates. His compositions are becoming increasingly mercurial, but in the best sense of the word. “When We Go Away” begins as a ballad where he atmospherically states the initial theme with a bell-like but sharp-edged tone. As the piece unfolds, it begins to pick up speed and turn more angular. By the time Salamon’s ready to solo, his tone has turned gritty, his approach a combination of long, sustained notes, skronking atonal noise and rapid-fire lines that are echoed empathically by drummer Tyshawn Sorey. Nels Cline and Sonny Sharrock would be proud.

Succi, best known for his work with Italian guitarist Simone Guiducci’s more folkloric Gramelot Ensemble, has continually proven himself capable of greater extremes with Salamon, notably on Ela’s Dream (Splasc(H), 2005). A strong altoist, he’s perhaps an even better clarinettist; his bass clarinet solo over the staggered rhythms of “Miss Sarcasm” is a highlight of the disc.

Bassist Carlo DeRosa’s solo on the aptly titled “Catch the Train” is a lithe introduction to another tune filled with twists and turns. Still, with a warmer tone and more supple approach, Salamon’s open-minded playing is easier on the ears than what came before.

A strong leader can intuitively bring together musicians who may not have played together, before but are perfect complements for each other, and the quartet on Kei’s Secret is Salamon’s strongest ensemble to date. Whether on a soft ballad or dark funk, this group feels like it's spent considerable time together. Salamon’s charts may encourage spontaneous interplay, but the comfort with which the band navigates the seemingly constant tempo shifts of “A Step Back” and the polyrhythmic themes of “When We Go Away” is remarkable for a group together on tour for only a month.

In the short time since Ornethology (SAZAS, 2003), Salamon has grown from a promising, Scofield-informed newcomer to a guitarist whose voice is an exciting amalgam of so many influences that they’re no longer directly relevant. Salamon is no longer an up-and-comer: he deserves to be considered in the same breath as contemporary guitar innovators like Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Monder and Adam Rogers.

EJAZZNEWS (Glenn Astarita, December 2006):

Slovenian jazz guitarist Sam Salamon’s flourishing discography communicates diversity, excitement and ferocious chops among other niceties, as his stature within the global jazz community is on the rise. On this live date, Salamon and his quartet whirl through ascending choruses and blazing cadenzas. And he cranks it up via a quasi, Hendrix/jazz-fusion mindset during the opener titled “When We Go Away.”

The guitarist and notable Italian sax ace Achille Succi act as near flawless foils throughout, while engaging in tricky unison lines and ominously crafted phrasings. However, they temper the flow a bit on “The Return To X-Land, where the soloists’ render introspective motifs, nicely counterbalanced with dappled tonalities. In other areas, the band explores jazz-rock and free-jazz amid quirky shifts in momentum. It’s a multidirectional endeavor as Succi and Salamon weave in and out with linearly engineered choruses, marked by gritty soloing maneuvers. Possessing a monstrous technique and an intense desire to navigate multiple jazz related genres, Salamon’s illimitable enthusiasm is exemplified on this inspiring release.

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Jerry D'Souza, November 2006):

Samo Salamon has been influenced by several kinds of music, including classical. While composers like Bartok and Messiaen ignite his imagination, the guitarist can also cut a swath out of rock, feed it into his compositions, and get the whole to fit in the thick of modern jazz. The blend often makes for compelling listening.

A couple of tunes here owe their ambit to Bill Frisell. Of these, “When We Go Away” finds Salamon getting into open-ended improvisation, then settling down to unfurl a quick melodic infusion. The notes of his guitar fall in a swell that careens into the overdrive of heavy metal. Yet the feedback settles into a solo of considerable melodic strength, technique and, importantly, creativity. At the other end of the scale comes “The Girl With a Nicotine Kiss,” whose warm cloak of emotion is unfurled gently by Achille Succi's clarinet, while Salamon is content adding pastel shades in the background.

The quartet pulls out all the stops on “Catch the Train,” which is marked by a constant pulsing attack, a tumultuous vigour, and changes in direction that can shift gear on a single note. It begins with the rumble of Carlo DeRosa’s bass, and as he continues to let the bottom roil, Succi moves in at a slower pace on the alto saxophone. He soon accelerates the tempo, and when the softer permutations come in, Salamon’s limpid notes lighten the texture, but not the impact.

Salamon turns in a comprehensive performance on “Miss Sarcasm.” Here again, nothing is static: the tune evolves constantly from bop to free expression. Succi's aggressive blowing does not forsake the extension of the melody, Sorey stokes the rhythm with fervour, and Salamon opens an introspective vent that lets in a gush of harmonic invention as he stretches out in bop mode.

Salamon lets his music speak in several tongues. In doing so, he does not forsake logic or cohesion. As a guitar player, he lets insight hatch improvisation. Together they make for a winning combination.
 

SAMO SALAMON QUARTET: Two Hours (2006) Fresh Sound New Talent Tony Malaby - tenor sax Samo Salamon - guitar Mark Helias - bass Tom Rainey - drums

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Ty Cumbie, July 2006):

The astonishing Two Hours, from a young, European guitarist, of all people, has all the elements jazz lovers in search of worthy new projects should be seeking.

Salamon certainly can pick a band. Sidemen don’t come much, if any better than Tony Malaby, Mark Helias and Tom Rainey. If Salamon sounds a bit starstruck in the liner notes his guitar work betrays no such thing. All the playing is virtuosic: flawless in the pocket and impishly brilliant out of it...he’s set himself up at one stroke as a new jazz guitarist to be dealt with.

Salamon’s tunes are satisfyingly well-structured with strong melodies, but the record’s looseness and spontaneity (hinted at in the title, which refers to the amount of time Salamon claims the session required) is the real marvel. A paucity of rehearsal and recording time have resulted in a very special recording that will help keep jazz’ obituary from being written just a bit longer.

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Budd Kopman, May 2006):

It matters not that this recording took but two hours to record after very little rehearsal. Samo Salamon was ready with his music, and his compatriots, three well-traveled musicians with fast musical reflexes and good instincts, actually thrived when thrown into this situation.

It is hard to predict whether better music will be made by a group that has played together or one that is new and fresh. Certainly all of us have heard top-notch music from both sides of the divide. Enough has been said and written about the need for spontaneity and how that can be quashed by over-rehearsal. Many times the magic happens when old hands who have that creative fire get together and can be spontaneous because they know that things will not fall apart.

Two Hours bears no marks of the circumstances of its creation. Salamon's compositions are very strong in both melodic or structural components and thus provide enough of a framework for everyone to feel comfortable and be loose. Except for ”Where's The Bill,” a Bill Frisell dedication that was recorded with Salamon's Italian quartet on Ornethology (2003), all the tunes are new. They seem to share a subliminal connection with each other in that they feel like they are made from the same small set of building blocks. This is not a criticism, but a clear sign that this music represents Salamon at this point in time.

As the album plays, and especially when it is replayed, the essence of who Salamon is right now becomes clearer. He likes melody and has a way of creating a phrase with a memorable contour that can provide real meat for improvisation, allowing the musicians to be free, yet enabling them to keep in touch easily. Many of the tunes have a bop feel filtered through the modern esthetic, which also enables the players to explore and be free from a solid base.

Tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby is terrific throughout, grabbing hold of the melodies and breaking them down, many times playing free sounds. Mark Helias and Tom Rainey create a flexible and solid rhythmic base when needed and break away when the music demands. Very clearly listening to each other and the rest of the band, this pair makes the album the success that it is. For his part, Salamon seems to lay out a lot, perhaps not wanting to upset the balance. When he does take a solo, he is an extreme reductionist, taking his melodies apart into scale or intervallic fragments, at times sounding like he has so many ideas to get out that he might burst.

The arrangements clearly had to be on the simpler side, and yet the players shift alignments effortlessly as if they had been playing this music together for months. Knowing that Two Hours was not the result of long rehearsal only intensifies the wonder of what was laid down in the studio.

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Chris May, March 2006):

Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon has generated a good degree of heat over the last couple of years, first with his self-published '03 album Ornethology, then with last year's Ela's Dream. Both discs suggested the emergence of a young guitarist well on the way to finding a distinctive personal voice. The early promise is fulfilled on Two Hours, Salamon's first album with a US lineup, recorded in New York in late '04 with a tough local crew. 

Salamon is engaging both as a guitarist and as a composer (all the tunes here are originals), and he brings the same agitated energy to both endeavours. His music is eager and edgy and excited, and his lines! pile up! climactic resolution! after climactic resolution! He can turn his hand to a more leisurely lyricism (as on “Empty Heart” and “The Lonely Tune,” both, as their titles suggest, poignant introspections), but is most impressive on hot, jittery, uptempo post-Ornette Coleman miniatures. 

Salamon has picked 'n' mixed pragmatically from the harmolodic menu, but he hasn't bought the whole nine yards; when he's at his hottest, you can hear traces of James Blood Ulmer, but other lines recall Bill Frisell and early mentor John Scofield. Sonny Sharrock also peers around the corner from time to time. Salamon uses effects sparingly (mainly chorus and distortion) and has a penchant for tempo changes. He hasn't quite arrived at his destination yet, but Two Hours suggests he may soon. 

Salamon's hands-across-the-ocean band here is busting. The album was recorded in just two hours, with one sotto voce rehearsal in bassist Mark Helias's apartment, thus necessitating a high degree of attentiveness and interaction between the musicians in the studio. The resulting collective spontaneity is well suited to Salamon's open-ended skeletal tunes and improvising abandon, and if the band doesn't always land on the one in perfect unison, a few ragged edges sit happily within the music. All three American musicians shine; saxophonist Tony Malaby is a particular thrill and delight, with split tones, growls, smears, lurches, jabs and body punches tumbling out of his tenor. 

Salamon, whose recording activity is as prolix as his music, has announced no less than five new albums to be released this year and next—with a New York quintet, two different European quartets, a US/European quartet, and a trio with Drew Gress and Tom Rainey. On this occasion, then, it is safe to predict that he's “a musician we'll be hearing a lot more from in the future.” 

ALLABOUTJAZZ (David Miller, March 2006):

Samo Salamon is a master guitarist. His chops go unchallenged; at any moment he could play any note or chord on the instrument...Salamon studied for a year under John Scofield, and the Sco influence shows in Salamon’s tone, as well as his lightning runs. “Empty Heart” opens the album and is a highlight, almost reminiscent of the great ensemble playing in ScoLoHoFo. Malaby plays an eccentric Lovano-ish solo, while Salamon’s chording during the theme is gripping. In this example of superb ensemble playing, not only are the musicians responding to each other, they are also playing with a purpose. 

Salamon has freer tendencies than Scofield, and this recording highlights his proclivity...Salamon will be heard from again; his immense chops preclude him from falling by the wayside...Salamon is a guitarist worth keeping track of. 

ALLABOUTJAZZ (John Kelman, March 2006):

Sometimes two hours is enough. Groups like Oregon and the Dave Holland Quintet have shown the value of developing long-term chemistry, but sometimes the energy of the unexpected can be equally motivating. With the one rehearsal for Two Hours sideswiped by an unexpected grab of the New York rehearsal space for a movie shoot, Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon truly made the most out of a situation that might have unnerved a less confident player. 

The musicians chosen for the date—saxophonist Tony Malaby, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Tom Rainey—are all well-accustomed to working without a safety net. And so, after a brief acoustic rehearsal at Helias’ home, the quartet went into the studio the next day and cut the album’s ten original compositions in just two hours. But you’d never know it. 

Salamon’s ambitious nature has been apparent since the out-of-nowhere surprise that was Ornethology (Independent, 2003). With four additional releases slated for this year, 2006 may be the year he makes the leap into greater visibility, especially given that his collaborators include figures like Drew Gress, Josh Roseman, David Binney and Mark Turner. If Two Hours is anything to go by, it’s going to be an exciting year. 

While Salamon often utilizes a gritty tone that references his appreciation for John Scofield, he’s also moving towards greater warmth. “Empty Heart,” a lyrical ballad that flows gracefully despite its 3-4-3 metric irregularity, has a 7/4 middle section that’s just outré enough harmonically to give the piece added depth. On the more mainstream ballad “The Lonely Tune,” Salamon demonstrates increasing confidence in going it alone. His self-contained introduction could easily have gone on longer. But Salamon is a democratic leader, and everyone gets plenty of room to move here and elsewhere on the disc. 

The guitarist's motif-oriented constructive approach to soloing is remarkably developed. His extended solo on the jagged “One for Steve Lacy,” supported by Rainey alone, is a case of one motif explored and enhanced, gradually evolving into another. And another. By the solo’s end, all reference to the initial idea is gone, but the trip is logical and clearly intentioned. 

The spirit of Ornette remains strong in Salamon’s writing. The lengthy theme of the staggered but still swinging “A Melody for Her” opens up to freer interplay between Salamon, Helias and Rainey, as does the even more idiosyncratic “Where’s the Bill,” a tip of the hat to the wry humour of Bill Frisell. 

It's a given that Malaby, Helias and Rainey—whose unencumbered adaptability is increasingly evident with every session he does—are as elastic as Salamon’s writing. In many cases a recording where a relative unknown hires more visible players can come off as nothing more than a session. Two Hours, on the other hand, with its unmistakable communal engagement, makes the most of the enlisted players’ clear respect for the leader. If Salamon’s other releases this year approach the chemistry of Two Hours, then this may well be the year for this rapidly developing Slovenian find. 

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Paul Olson, March 2006):

Next time you find yourself underwhelmed by a jazz recording on an indie jazz label, it might be entirely the fault of the artist—some people make bad records, after all. That said, the whole system might be the culprit: small labels offer musicians opportunities to do sessions, but don’t (and usually can’t) give them what they need most to make a proper album: time. Time is money in the studio, of course, and rehearsal must occur on the artist’s dime before the studio date. 

Slovenian guitarist/composer Samo Salamon alludes to these sorts of conditions in the title of his new quartet CD Two Hours—that’s how long the album took to record after the band (composed of Salamon, bassist Mark Helias, drummer Tom Rainey and tenorman Tony Malaby) managed to eke out one amp-free rehearsal and one live gig. 

Fortunately, that’s how these guys operate—at least one of them’s probably playing a New York gig tonight under the same sorts of cicrumstances—and you’ll have to strain pretty hard to find any slackness or stumbling in the playing on Two Hours, a bracingly tough yet ultimately melodic collection of ten Salamon originals. 

Salamon had an apprenticeship with John Scofield in 2000, and you might hear some Sco-tone in his electric guitar playing, but his slightly overdriven sound, light, brisk touch and jagged, mild-dementia phrasing’s his own; if he resembles anyone at times, it’s a more jazz-inflected Marc Ribot. In any case, his jaggedness is just the bitter coating of a sweet musical pill—he’s really a melodist at heart. Salamon’s tone blends marvelously with Malaby’s robust tenor lines, and the two contribute memorable unison heads to “A Melody for Her” and “Does David Know He’s Not Brown?”—just to name a couple. 

“Empty Heart,” the CD opener, is, simply put, one of the best songs of the year, with a delicate, simple theme that Chet Baker (or any of his European ECM trumpet brethren) would love. Helias threads the track with augustly deep, woody lines that sound eminently wise—both before, after and during his a cappella solo that is slowly joined by Malaby, then Rainey and Salamon. 

Malaby and Salamon bite off the cagey theme of “A Melody for Her” with real gusto, and the group’s sudden, telepathic shift from a looser time into a straight 4/4 swing during Malaby’s solo emphatically undermines any claim to the band being negatively affected by underrehearsal. Here and elsewhere, Salamon’s single-note, non-chordal lines act more like a horn than guitar, and, horn-like, he often lays out during Malaby’s solos. 

“Silence of the Poets” is a strange blues with an incantatory, improvised drums/arco bass introduction and, later, a deep-emotion Malaby solo that’s buttressed by whining volume swells and feeback groans from the leader over autonomous bass and drums. It’s a perfect, satisfying blend of beauty and noise. 

The music on Two Hours rises above the circumstances of its creation. You’ll be hearing more from Salamon. 

ABEILLEMUSIQUE (March 2006):

T rès actif sur le front de la musique instrumentale jazz à New York, le guitariste d’origine slovène Samo Salamon s’offre un nouveau plaisir en compagnie de trois musiciens confirmés des studios new-yorkais. Cinquième album de l’intéressé, Two Hours est une traversée fantasque dans un hard bop de très bonne tenue, avec la participation haute en couleur d’un Tony Malaby en grande forme Where’s the Bill ?. Avec des hommages appuyés à Bill Frisell et Steve Lacy, Salamon n’oublie pas ses influences. De l’influence, il en apportera sûrement avec ce jazz enjoué et coloré, qui ne s’endort jamais sur ses lauriers. 

CITIZEN JAZZ (March 2006):

Concernant Samo Salamon, après première écoute ça sent bon ! Le leader est pas mal mais ces trois compagnons sont tellement exceptionnels, encore une fois...Ma main s'est tendue vers ce nouveau Fresh Sound New Talent: Samo Salamon, cette semaine à la FNAC. J'ai failli le prendre à la seule vue des noms de Malaby, Helias et Rainey. Et puis j'ai vu que ce Salamon que je ne connais pas est un guitariste, hélas!

ALLABOUTJAZZ (John Kelman, December 2005):

While Nicholson's thesis is flawed, equally I'd say that in support of Bev while innovation in jazz has not shifted specifically to Europe, no longer is it the exclusive domain of the US. Innovation is happening everywhere - from the US to England, Germany to Norway, Finland to Slovenia. The role that American artists continue to play in the evolution of jazz cannot be undermined and should never be understated; but neither should the fact that its continued growth is also happening because of non-American artists including Tim Garland, Tomasz Stanko, Kenny Wheeler, Jon Balke, Iro Haarla, Django Bates, Iain Ballamy, Trygve Seim, Samo Salamon, Markus Stockhausen, and so many more. Equally, American artists like Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, John Hollenbeck, Maria Schneider and others are doing great work to prevent jazz from becoming simply a museum piece. 

JOHN SCOFIELD (December 2000):

I have known Samo Salamon for four years and have enjoyed watching him develop as a player. It is my opinion that he is a talented, highly motivated and hard working musician and composer.

SAMO SALAMON SEXTET: Ela's Dream (2005) Splasch Records Kyle Gregory - trumpet, piccolo trumpet Dave Binney - alto sax Achille Succi - alto sax, bass clarinet Samo Salamon - guitar Paolino Dalla Porta - bass Zlatko Kaucic - drums

JAZZ WEEKLY (Ken Waxman, October 2005):

ELA’S DREAM was recorded four months before that at the Ljubljana Jazz Festival. Based around the compositions of Slovenian guitarist Samo Šalamon, the sextet is decidedly international. Maribor-born Šalamon has studied and recorded in New York with bands featuring bassist Mark Helias, drummer Tom Rainey and alto saxophonist Dave Binney, the last of whom is also present here. Sharing the front line is Indianapolis-born, Verona-resident trumpeter Kyle Gregory, who is also in baritone saxophonist Alberto Pinton’s Clear Now group, and alto saxophonist and bass clarinetist Achille Succi, who plays in a variety of bands including The Italian Instabile Orchestra. Bassist Paolino Dalla Porta is one of the busiest accompanists in Italy, while fellow percussionist Zlatko Kaucic is a well-traveled Slovenian, who works throughout Europe and recorded an interesting duo session with reedist Mauro Negri.

After that, to darting bass accompaniment, Binney begins flutter tonguing a theme variation which soon works its way to side slipping spetrofluctuation, split tones, squeaks and smears. Kaucic’s flashy flams segment another variation, after which the saxman’s repetitive four-note phrase turns to carefully splayed grace notes, backed by melodious double-stopping from the bass. Bugle-like crescendos from the trumpeter, plus double counterpoint from Binney’s alto and Succi’s sonorous bass clarinet lead to sweeping licks from Šalamon with a finale of altissimo and tremolo passages from all the horns. 

Much more palatable are the other tunes, including “Coffee With A Girl”, which probably by the virtue of opening the program, is memorable almost throughout its 18¼-minute length. Deliberately episodic and influenced by Ornette Coleman’s later style, its motion is refocused rather than slowed by contributions from all the band members.

Its expository theme stated by trumpet squeaks, alto smears and extended double picked guitar lines, Šalamon’s chording frenzy is soon cut by bass clarinet snorts and brassy trumpet flares. A new variation turns the theme from andante to allegro, as the guitarist’s quick figures turn to crunches and snaps. Using his effects pedal, Šalamon’s line upturns to rock-like interface, accompanied by stentorian banging from Kaucic, as if the two of them were Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton in their Cream prime, turning their hands to jazz improvising.

Not that the other musicians mark time however. Binney’s alto saxophone turns from double tonguing and snorting in its lower registers to moving forward with accented trills and repeated arpeggios, to explode into fizzy and overblown pitch vibrato backed by bounces from the drummer. Subsequently, Succi’s appropriately tonal bass clarinet lines, backed by a steady walking pace from Dalla Porto ratchet up to altissimo reed-biting squeaks, then modulates down to Dolphy-like phrasing. Counter lines from the other horns bring forward another theme variation and the piece climaxes with elliptical buzzes from Succi, sprightly grace notes from Gregory and an ending that’s mostly polyphonic counterpoint 

Performed with enough polytonality, elastic time sense and extended techniques to be 21st century modern, the rhythmic and melodic implication of Šalamon’s tunes recall classic well-constructed anthems. The combination of his supple lines and first -class blowing makes most of the work here memorable.

SUONO (Sergio Spada, September 2005):

Un lavoro interessante, realizzato da un musicista giovane ma tutt’altro che di “primo pelo”: il chitarrista Samo Salamon, “leader” di un gruppo cui non manca la personalità e la cui esperienza collettiva risulta invidiabile quando comparata alla musica prodotta in questo Ela’s Dream. Registrato “live” in Slovenia nel 2004, il disco (dedicato ad un cane particolarmente caro a Samo) annovera un sestetto di elevata affidabilità, indubbia coesione e forte duttilità musicale,composto da musicisti pronti all’esplorazione delle più diverse vie che caratterizzano i percorsi del jazz e le loro derivazioni. Parlando di Salamon qualcuno scomoda Ornette Coleman, e non a torto, proprio per l’approccio che il chitarrista usa verso la materia musicale da comporre o da plasmare secondo le sue idee ed il suo istinto, scegliendo i compagni di incisione fra strumentisti “esploratori” e “curiosi” della materia che suonano. Di elevato livello l’apporto di due musicisti italiani fra i migliori: Achille Succi (magnifico al clarinetto basso) e Paolino Dalla Porta, davvero un contrabbassista di rara completezza capace di un interminabile ma affascinate solo in There’s still dog food left in it. Con loro, fra gli altri, l’energia ad elevato tasso di coinvolgimento del sax di David Binney, pronto a duettare in modo brillante con Succi e con la stessa chitarra di Samo. Ela’s Dream è un disco davvero “pieno” nel senso più puro del termine, ma non come un tacchino imbottito di qualcosa di cui avrai presto la nausea (scusate il paragone irriverente) ma come un percorso musicale fatto di brani molto lunghi (minimo dieci minuti, e per la traccia finale) sufficienti a far venire fuori la natura estremamente aperta delle composizioni e le urgenze espressive del gruppo, efficacemente rappresentate dal bravissimo chitarrista, non esente da influenze rock spesso molto efficaci (Emotional playground).

JAZZREVIEW (Glenn Astarita, June 2005, USA):

Slovenian jazz guitarist Samo Salamon conveys maturity beyond his young years on this progressive jazz release.  A live recording featuring well-known American saxophonist David Binney to round out the three-horn attack, the guitarist surfaces as a confident leader who possesses mega-chops and improvisational savvy.  With these five lengthy pieces the band offers a refreshing slant via a concoction of free-jazz, swing, bop and jazz-fusion.  But the overall muse is not simply built upon a cross-polarization of jazz styles.  It’s more about Salamon’s resourceful leadership and rock solid compositions that highlight his band-mates’ technical veracity amid variable flows and memorable choruses.

At times, Salamon puts the pedal to the metal via ascending soloing ventures and climactic phrasings; all supplemented by stinging progressions and cleverly articulated single note flurries. Otherwise, Binney, saxophonist Achille Succi and trumpeter Kyle Gregory turn in gritty soloing to coincide with the various shifts in tempo and alternating currents.  On “There’s Still Dog Food Left In It,” Paolino Dalla Porta takes an extended bass solo, followed by the hornists’ solemn passages, ultimately evolving into a vibrant medium-tempo swing vamp.  With that, Salamon – a one-time student of guitarist John Scofield – successfully conveys a vibe that teeters on the cutting edge of matters, while offering a set that seldom fails to entertain! 

ALTRISUONI (May 2005):

Il chitarrista sloveno Samo Salamon mette assieme un bel casting e si avventura con la giusta faccia tosta in una impresa ben riuscita che lo fa atterrare dalle parti di Ornette Coleman, uno dei miti del jazz moderno. I saxofoni di David Binney e Achille Succi sono perfetti compagni di viaggio per un progetto così impegnativo, così come preziosi collaboratori sono il trombettista Kyle Gregory e il batterista Zlatko Kaucic. Ma in particolar modo chi ricopre un ruolo fondamentale in questi cinque lunghissimi brani è certamente il bravissimo Paolino Della Porta, col suo contrabbasso perfettamente allineato alla strutturazione di questi brani tutti scritti dal giovane chitarrista. L'assenza del pianoforte e il fatto che Salamon si chiami spesso fuori da compiti di accompagnamento, lasciano sulle spalle del bassista tutto il peso della cucitura armonica e dello scorrere delle sezioni dei brani e il suo modo di gestire questi due compiti così impegnativi è davvero esemplare. La registrazione è avvenuta a Ljubljana verso la metà di aprile del 2004 e questo bel Ela's Dream ce la riporta molto fedelmente, con un buon bilanciamento timbrico, utile soprattutto a ben rappresentare i momenti scoppiettanti di energia in cui i fiati ribattono le esposizioni tematiche, con le voci che si rincorrono alla ricerca di nuovi equilibri armonici e timbrici. Un percorso coraggioso e determinato in un territorio quasi sacro del jazz moderno, un chiaro omaggio davvero ben riuscito e maturo ad una figura esemplare come quella di Ornette. Un chitarrista da tenere d'occhio, per le sue scelte sicuramente non banali e per la sua appassionata dedizione ad un progetto certamente al passo coi tempi.

ALLABOUTJAZZ (John Kelman, May 2005, USA):

Slovenian guitarist Samo Šalamon’s '03 recording Ornethology was something of an epiphany. From the most unlikely of places, a young artist had emerged, not only possessing a frightening command of his instrument, but also gifted with the kind of maturity and artistic vision that would be remarkable regardless of age or origins. While that disc reflected a relatively newfound interest in the music of Ornette Coleman—it consisted largely of original compositions in the spirit of Coleman—he has also been an incredibly hard-working player, with five different projects going on concurrently, including the ethnic musings of his Ansasa Trio and its ’02 recording, Arabian Picnic. 

Two years later Šalamon hasn’t let up a bit. His new album, the live Ela’s Dream, continues to explore the path set down by Coleman, in particular with his early-‘60s Atlantic recordings. What is becoming clear, however, is that Šalamon is integrating Coleman’s spirit into pieces that, while providing plenty of space for improvisation—Šalamon’s five compositions range from ten to twenty minutes—also demonstrate a stronger disposition to form. 

The odd-metered riff of “Broken Windows” and its circuitous theme reflect a structural idiosyncrasy reminiscent of alto saxophonist David Binney’s writing—and, indeed, Binney can be found as a member of Šalamon’s sextet. Ultimately, however, Šalamon’s form is used as a foundation for a powerful saxophone tradeoff between Binney and Achille Succi—another alto player, who returns from Ornethology and possess a slightly sweeter tone as compared to Binney’s edgier timbre. The two saxophones raise the heat, leading into a fiery guitar/drum duet between Šalamon and Zlatko Kaucic, another Ornethology alumnus who has been something of a mentor to Šalamon over the past few years. 

That Šalamon bears some resemblance to John Scofield is no surprise; he studied with Scofield, and he adopts a similarly gritty tone. But whereas Scofield is full of grease and blue notes, Šalamon possesses more of a European aesthetic, coupled with a looser sense of freedom and elasticity with time that brings to mind Sonny Sharrock or James “Blood” Ulmer at his more adventurous. 

Šalamon’s playing reflects a barely controlled intensity. Even “Emotional Playground,” which begins as a gentle ballad, ultimately resolves into an odd-metered core, featuring a searching solo from Šalamon that gradually builds in power. Šalamon demonstrates a palpable evolution since Ornethology, now far more capable of shaping an extended solo and giving it form over the long run. 

And Ela’s Dream is but the first in a series of recent collaborations that includes two sessions from a visit to New York—a quintet date with Binney, trombonist Josh Roseman, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Gerald Cleaver; and a quartet date with saxophonist Tony Malaby, bassist Mark Helias, and drummer Tom Rainey. Šalamon is aligning himself with all the right players and he’s clearly evolving at a rapid pace. Hopefully these two New York sessions and Ela’s Dream will garner him the attention he rightfully deserves. 

GOLDMINE MAGAZINE (Joe Milliken, May 2005, USA):

Slovenian-born jazz guitarist/composer Samo Salamon releases his fourth CD titled Ela's Dream on the Splasc(h) Records label, featuring five original compositions recorded live in Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, in April of 2004.

Following up his critically acclaimed Ornethology  in 2003, Salamon's new sextet, which features Kyle Gregory on trumpet, Dave Binney on alto sax, Achille Succi on alto sax and bass clarinet, Paolino Dalla Porta on bass, and Zlatko Kaucic on drums, absolutely thrives in a live setting, creating pristine melodies, uniquely conceptual solos, odd-metered grooves, and emotional ballads.

The opening "Coffee With A Girl" is a Coltrane-influenced conceptual piece featuring three innovative solos by Salamon, Binney on alto, and Achille on bass clarinet. A ballad titled "Emotional Playground", featuring an odd-metered groove in the middle section, is an emotional piece which (revealed in the liner notes) is dedicated to a past girlfriend.

"There's Still Dog Food Left In It" opens with an amazing bass solo from Dalla Porta, then glides into an innovative trumpet solo by Gregory, before closing with inspired improvisation from all. Then the title track features an energetic drum solo from Kaucic, and the closing track "Broken Windows" creates an outstanding sax duet from Binney and Succi.

Salamon is obviously a talented, creative, and motivated guitarist and composer who is driven and inspired by the masterworks of one Ornette Coleman. His guitar playing is in the vein of one of his mentors John Scofield, yet still he develops his own tone, space and grace. The future is truly bright for wherever Samo decides to venture from here.

VECER (Darinko Kores Jacks, May 2005):

Two pieces were masterfully upgraded by the almost expected home guest, the young electric guitarist Samo Salamon, who otherwise cooperates a lot with Kaucic (also on Salamon's last record Ela's Dream, which was released on Splasch Records). He played so well and with such an interplay with the band that a new recording of this band wouldn't be a surprise. We can hardly wait!

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Marc Meyers, April 2005, USA):

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. And finally, with four Europeans in the band, Salamon's group swings like mad, making a powerful statement that European jazz musicians are making music that equals, and arguably surpasses, in both creativity and swing, a lot of American jazz. 

Salamon plays guitar with a serrated edge, giving him a sound somewhare between John Scofield, with whom he once studied, and Sonny Sharrock. 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. At times, Salamon's writing, with its catchy themes, also bears an Ornette influence. Further, his compositions, with their changing tempos, time signatures, and multiple themes, give the album a nearly epic sweep. 

For example, “Coffee With A Girl” is, in Salamon's words, “in the style of Ornette Coleman.” Indeed it is, and after the bumptious theme and brief intervals of collective improvising, the band launches into a driving, medium-up swing, supporting wonderful solos by the leader and David Binney. Then they riff, and settle into a medium, but no less swinging, tempo, and Succi roars on bass clarinet. 

By contrast, “Broken Windows” starts with a powerful guitar solo, after which the rhythm section plays a pattern in a fast 5/4 groove, and Binney and Succi, this time on alto, engage in fiery exchanges, folding into collective improvising, an alto riff, and 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. Binney and the rhythm section score again during the middle section of the title tune, which features a long, fine alto solo taken at a rip-roaring, very fast, 4/4 swing tempo. 

It's safe to say that there's never a dull moment on Ela's Dream.

DELO (Gregor Bauman, April 2005):

Impressions for Every Day

Although he is really young, the home guitarist Samo Salamon has recommendations, which are highly convincing. In good five years he made something virtually impossible. From a beardless young man, who was faithfully following the newest ideas of musical virtuosos, he tried to understand them in the best possible way in an inner understanding, he developed to a recognized musician, composer, who wasn't just satisfied with repeating the gained knowledge, but was trying to upgrade its contents. In this way he distanced himself from many musicians who just play traditional jazz without personal touch. He doesn't deny his respect to the heritage, however he doesn't like standing on one place. He has in this way transcribed concepts, with which Ornette Coleman revolutionized jazz in the end of the 50s and in the beginning of the 60s. The result was the album Ornethology, which gave Samo a wider recognition, new acquaintances and a praisse-worthy quote in AllAboutJazz - Ornette's Slovenian Hands. All this opened the doors for Salamon to the international jazz world, it gave him a chance to work with accomplished musicians and a deal with the Italian label Splasch Records. This combination was also resulted in the last project Ela's Dream, which presents a CD of a concert recorded in Cankarjev dom from april in the last year's tour.

Samo has this time again taken his business very seriously. He collected around himself musicians who somehow understood his vision and have also equally guided him. Individual thought were adapted to the collective, ideas which were being born in the sextet.

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. Occasional phrasings still remind to the artefacts of Coleman's heritage, but in them we can see a step forward. Careful listening clearly reveals that Samo is developing his own style, which brings the musicianship to a new level of maturity. The contents are not just the fruits of enthusiasm, but are the result of profound tehnical knowledge and self-confidence. One must just say that he is fresh and daring. The sextet (Samo Salamon - guitar, Dave Binney - alto saxophone, Achille Succi - alto saxophone, bass clarinet, Paolino Dalla Porta - bass, Zlatko Kaucic - drums) works therefore really as a compact unit. In each moment Salamon is aware of his place, although there is freedom in the music. He perfectly manipulates with creative achievements of modern improvising streams, but he is also careful that he does not go off the track from the set coordinates. Discipline in freedom, which Zlatko Kaucic also supports.

We can't miss something else in the epilogue: all tunes on the CD are the result of creative original input, which come from Samo's impressions of everyday life. Each of them is a story for itself, an emotional vignette from his most close surroundings, like the author himself explains in the liner notes. Samo is with this not only showing his open-mindness and vast knowledge, but also a personal maturity since he is most sincerely explaining things (emotions) which he has experienced and are a part of him. Definitely a rare quality on domestic stage!

POLET (Jure Potokar, April 2005):

Champions League - Guitarist Samo Salamon is so far more appreciated abroad, where he published his new album Ela's Dream for the label Splasch Records

Let's once again repeat some of the basic data because it seems like the international success of the young Slovenian guitarist is not particularly in the interest for wider public and especially the media. Maybe it were different if we caused scandals, dyed his hair to green and would kiss something of the editors of public media. But unfortunately he does not do this becuase he doesn't have the will or time for it. The 26-year old guitarist from Maribor uses his time in a more useful way for his studies (he is finishing his masters from American Literature) and his guitar practice. Every day. Lately at least five hours each day. When he has a chance he loves to perform, but as you know you can't do this so much in Slovenia. When you play once the Ljubljana Jazz Festival, you are out for at least three years, so that others from the "union list" get a chance. It doesn't even matter if they did something interesting or not. Other "festivals" are even more fun - they demand exclusivity. If you want to perform on them, you are not allowed to play anywhere else in Slovenia!

But Samo Salamon is just bursting from energy and creative ideas. To realize them he is willing to go through anything. Last year he went for instance to New York and recorded at his own expenses two new projects. With excellent, world-recognized and accomplished musicians. The first project features alto saxophonist Dave Binney, trombone player Josh Roseman, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Gerald Cleaver, while the second one features tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Tom Rainey. If these names don't mean anything to you, let me tell you that they belong to the first league of the most creative jazzers of current time.

When these two projects will be released is still a question, but not so unsolveable as you might thing. Samo has opened many doors with his last album Ornethology (2003), which got great critics not only in Slovenia (also in these pages) but also abroad. Especially in the USA, where AllAboutJazz pronounced the record as the album of the week and also was praising it a lot ("Salamon is major league material."). In this way Salamon could also publish his latest album Ela's Dream with the prestigious Italian label Splasch Records.

The release of this record shows in the best possible way with how an important break-through artist we deal with. Samo Salamon has almost exactly a year ago gathered five internationally recognized musicians and has managed to organize a real tour of ten concerts in Slovenia, with the highlight in Cankarjev Dom. This concert was recorded in it was clear in the first moment that we listened to a first-class, juicy jazz on the crossroads between tradition and improvisation, where Salamon despite his youth strongly led the musicians, who were much older and more experienced. The album showed that the CD exceeds all expectations. The Italian label decided to release the music and this happened really quickly.

This isn't a surprise because 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. Salamon, who composed all the music, clearly shows that he still coming out from what excites him in the music of the great Ornette Coleman, but he is more and more obviosuly original. It seems like this time he was especially interested in harmonic possibilities of the expanded band with four soloists and it is really beautiful to hear how effective is the sextet. The sound palette is exceptionally luxurious and although it is clear right away that the alto saxophonist Dave Binney is the greatest and most aggressive musicians on the record, the contribution of others is no way less important since we are dealing with the always first-class alto saxophonist and bass clarinet player Achille Succi and trumpet player Kyle Gregory. A special praise goes to the fantastic rhythm section of bass player Paolino Dalla Porta nad drummer Zlatko Kaucic, who is not only taking care of the rhythm and drive, but is upgrading his basic function all the time with incredible imagination and telephatic harmony. Equally noticable and incredible and also less held back than on his last record is Salamon, who is also on the technical side maturing and developing into an excellent, unique and already now very recognizable guitarist.

Ela's Dream is in all aspects an excellent album, one of those by which I will remember the year 2005 and Samo Salamon can be justly very proud of it. It would also be fair that the Slovenian cultural public would also admit its perfection because by its meaning it equally reaches the international success of most Slovenian artists.

MLADINA (Ico Vidmar, April 2005):

Liner notes in CDs are not just like that. The character of the edition frames them, but generally they are a preparation for the entrance into the musical world, they are instructions for ("correct") listening. If the musician himself is the one who prepares them, then we see so much more the connection of the discursive with auditive. We have to read carefully the words of guitarist Samo Salamon when he is explaining and opening ways to the presented music of his sextet. Something to remember is definitely his honest and full-of-respect thanks to the older and more experienced musicians since after all he was in the band their "boss". The young Maribor player really honestly and maturly shows to the most vital in jazz, this can be breakable but gives surplusses when it comes to musical friendships, productive oppositions and learning through musicianship, especially when it comes to social aspects in music.

The members of the international group are trumpet player Kyle Gregory, alto saxophonist Dave Binney, saxophonist and bass clarinet player Achille Succi, bassist Paolino Dalla Porta and drummer Zlatko Kaucic. We can here just add, like we have for the album Ornethology, that Kaucic is a great teacher to young musicians, but not only that. He is also and open musical pedagogue who invited many talents into openess of forms through his teaching. Salamon is therefore not the first or the last. Album was recorded last year in Cankarjev dom.

It gives a lot, especially much more self-confidence in composing and realization of jazz material. But with something much more important, it gives a guitarist who is slowly gaining a personal sound, "the usual dirty" sound of the jazz guitar is slowly getting rougher, is looking for colors and dynamic nuances, which can be strongly heard in solo parts, but work in a compact way in the role of support and especially group playing. Salamon is becoming a skilled composer, who knows the conventions, history of jazz, which can be a guide to new articulations or just lost spinning in patterns. Ela's Dream represents the first, he can deal with historic material and develop it into his own vision, into an interplay of tension and release in the structure of the music. The music is not simple, but it has a beautiful logical arch, where the soloist can find himself and where also the group can work. Great and obligatory music.

ANIMA JAZZ (April 2005, Italy):

Una stimolante novità sarà poi l'ascolto del SAMO SALAMON SEXTET guidato da questo giovane chitarrista sloveno (Samo Salamon, appunto) che non è più "una valida promessa", ma una solida certezza creativa. Grazie anche ad una validissima ed internazionale formazione (Samo Salamon, chitarra; Kyle Gregory,tromba; Dave Binney, sax alto; Achille Succi, sax alto e clarinetto basso; Paolino Dalla Porta, contrabbasso e Zlatko Kaucic, batteria) potremo ascoltare una grande performance di "Broken Windows" (S.Salamon) tratta dal CD "Ela's Dream", pubblicato dalla "SPLASC(H) Records".

FINANCE (Gregor Bauman, April 2004):

There is a birth of new creativity in the home jazz production, which is not part of the already heard, for many boring nad endlessly repeated patterns that we know for decades. Therefor is the freshness with which Samo Salamon excites from last year on really a welcome sound innovation. It is always elastic and daring, on the boundary of pleasure and experiment, and for many non-experts almost an extreme deviation to free jazz. But still it has a really solid foundation, clear compository basis, which is intervened ocassionaly with solistic parts, bound to time and place. I watched two concerts of Samo's sextet - in Skofja Loka (in the great hall Kristalna dvorana) and in Cankarjev dom, so I can easier draw the line. The same program sounded totally different on both venues. It kept its witty character, while with freshness it was discovering fields of sound, which were introduced also by individual improvisation mood of different players.

Samo Salamon's Sextet has introduced to us a totally new chapter. Fluid lines, aware to movings from instrument to instrument, humorous interplay, which was only waiting who will play with it more and give it further to group improvisation. The compositions had the idea of a living entit which is constantly changing. It is hard or almost impossible to talk about advantage lines since the sextet worked on the principle of 6x1 and not the other way around. Especially the melodic bass of Paulino Dalla Porta does not provide just rhythmic background, it cathes the melody, it turns it around and leaves to the hands of Samo Salamon's guitar and the hotn section of Dave Binney (saxophone)-Achille Succi (bass clarinet, alto saxophone)-Kyle Gregory (trumpet). Meanwhile Zlatko Kaucic dresses all this "confusion" into the rhythms of his drums in a defining and calm way. Virtousity, fresh and inspiring! Definitely a musical model which deserves a CD!

VECER (Darinko Kores Jacks, April 2004):

Samo Salamon, the guitarist from Maribor, has taken his studies of music not within institutions, but has worked individually with some of the best teachers around - his most important teacher and influence is the famous John Scofield. His Ornethology Quartet is also not formed by young players who are striving to achieve the heights of jazz, but is formed by experienced masters with years of playing. In such surroundings it is much easier to develop your music, and although the youngest, Salamon is excellent as the leader of the band, especially with his composition work and playing of the guitar he excels (he showed many excellent solistic parts, including superb control over the fingerboard of his guitar). Solistic mastery was shown also by other members of the group, drummer Zlatko Kaucic and the italian musicians Achille Succi (saxophone) and Paulino Dalla Porta (bass). Speical attention was of course also given to the two USA musicians, with whom the group went to the road on the last couple of days in Slovenia and around. These are the trumpet player Kyle Gregory, living currently in Italy, and saxophone player Dave Binney as a special guest. Solistic parts absolutely didn't sound out of the music, which was one complex unity, but were its organic parts. We heard excellent musicianship with lots of creative improvisation and innovation. Although it was already almost midnight at the end of the concert, we could easily listen to more of such music!

SAMO SALAMON QUARTET: Ornethology (2003) Samo Records Achille Succi - alto sax, bass clarinet Samo Salamon - guitar Salvatore Maiore - bass Zlatko Kaucic - drums

GOLDMINE MAGAZINE (Joe Milliken , December 2003, USA):

Slovenian jazz guitarist Samo Salamon's latest titled "Ornethology " is the culmination of both a study and exercise, a realization and development derived from some of the musical ideas and concepts of jazz legend Ornette Coleman. 

Salamon spent an extensive period of time listening to Coleman's complete Atlantic Records recordings, transcribing the entire catalog, and then studying and exploring Ornette's unique concepts from that period and how it would influence his own thinking, and composing. The end result is Ornethology". 

Along with Zlatko Kaucic on drums and percussion, Achille Succi on alto saxophone and bass clarinet, and Salvatore Maiore on bass, Salamon's quartet creates an inventive mix of improvisation with tradition. Samo's compositions show a maturity and understanding far beyond his years! 

Salamon has a unique and distinguishable guitar sound as well, his John Scofield influence apparent, and he creates remarkable phrasing with bass clarinet player Succi. His solos are accurate and articulate, yet soft and intinate when need be. 

Overall "Ornethology" is an energetic, yet disciplined interpretation of Monk-influenced compositions, and still made creative and personal by Salamon. He is a composer and guitarist beyond his years, and a force to be reckoned with.

DER STANDARD (December 2003, Austria):

The Samo Salamon Ornethology Quartet is a first class jazz ensemble that is playing exciting compositions.

IL GAZZETTINO (December 2003, Italy):

Omaggio a Coleman del Salamon Quartet

L'appuntamento dicembrino di Jazz Cube ha proposto un programma dedicato a Ornette Coleman, tratto dal cd "Ornethology" del giovane chitarrista sloveno Samo Salamon. In particolare la musica e ispirata dal periodo delle incisioni Atlantic del sassofonista texano, quello degli esordi con il quartetto negli anni Sessanta; opere che appartengono alla classicita del jazz e della musica del Novecento e anche se qualche attardato nostalgico continua a considerarle "troppo spinte". Rispetto alla formazione presente sul disco, per le due date di Roma e Pordenone nel gruppo figura il trombettista Kyle Gregory in luogo del sassofonista Achille Succi che affianca il leader e Salvatore Maiore al contrabbasso e Zlatko Kaucic alla batteria. Una formazione transnazionale che testimonia legami tra musicisti destinati ad avere ancora piu slancio con l'imminente ingresso in Europa della repubblica slovena. Molto belli in temi dei brani prevalentemente nel registro acuto, di vaglia il livello di assoli e collettivi sviluppati dentro le strutture e verso il loro superamento. Le lettura della musica colemaniana e fresca e leggera, non deferente o imitativa e ne coglie lo spirito aperto e libertario. Gregory ha ampliato la tavolozza dei suoi colori utilizzando tromba, cornetta e tromba piccola sfoggiando un suono nitido e potente con note prolungate e veementi. Salamon ha preferito arricchire le trame collettive con i suoi interventi riservandosi contenuti spunti solistici nel segno della lezione di John Scofield. Raffinate le punteggiature ritmiche, con prelievi dal vasto catalogo della tradizione afroamericana dal New Orleans al funk, ma non sono mancate deflagrazioni e contrasti un'exploit "all'olandese" delle bacchette di Kaucic su di un posacenere. Il segno di uno squardo divertito sulla presunta seriosita accigliata del free.

DNEVNIK (Jure Potokar, December 2003):
 
Additional quality was brought to the group by the excellent guitar virtuoso Samo Salamon (currently he is making the all over world enthusiastic with his album Ornethology), who enrichened the music with his typical sound!

SLOVENIA TIMES (Gregor Bauman, December 2003):

This record is undoubtedly one of this year’s best from a local artist. It has received very positive international feedback in many significant jazz magazines, such as All About Jazz, Jazz Live, EJ Jazz News etc. Šalamon’s music is based on his study of Ornette Coleman concepts but he has translated these with youthful energy and in his own unique way. On this album he is accompanied by experienced jazz musicians, such as well-known percussionist Zlatko Kaucic and guests from Italy –- Achille Suchi (sax, clarinet) and Salvatoire Maoire. As we have said previously in the ST Ornethology brings us a rich musicianship, witty music, a bit of John Scofield, (who is Samo’s mentor), and music worthy of the name of Ornette Coleman, so it’s no surprise, that John Kelman has commented that: “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.

MUSICHEART, SPAZIO CULTURA (December 2003, ITALY):

Il giovane chitarrista sloveno Samo Salamon presenta il suo progetto “Ornethology”, dedicato al grande Ornette Coleman. Tutte composizioni originali per un jazz teso e lirico. Il gruppo, per la prima volta in Italia, si esibiri mercoledi 10 dicembre alle 21.30 allo Spazio Cultura ex Cerit a Pordenone, dopo aver partecipato al Festival Jazz Mitteleuropeo di Roma. L’appuntamento si inserisce nelle proposte di Jazz Cube dedicate alla musica di ispirazione afroamericana. 
Samo Salamon definisce la musica come modern free jazz, la critica specializzata ha osannato il suo disco. Chitarrista e compositore jazz di grandissimo talento, come lo ha definito John Scofield con il quale ha approfondito la sua formazione a New York nel Duemila, inizia il suo percorso musicale studiando chitarra classica a Maribor e chitarra jazz al conservatorio di Klagenfurt. Sempre nel Duemila divide un progetto con il batterista Zlatko Kaucic e suona fra gli altri Kareem Riggins, Fareed Haque, John Hicks, Gianluca Petrella, Achille Succi, Dusan Novakov e Andrea Allione. E’ leader dell’ etno-jazz Ansasa Trio. Con questa formazione pubblica nel 2002 l’album “Arabian Picnic”. Lo stesso anno registra il primo disco del Samo Salamon Trio, “A Dream Come True”, che precede il nuovo lavoro ispirato a Coleman, in compagnia del connazionale Zlatko Kaucic, Salvatore Maiore e Kyle Gregory. 
Zlatko Kaucic e uno dei migliori batteristi europei dell’area jazz e della musica d’ improvvisazione. Nella carriera pie che trentennale ha suonato ovunque nel vecchio e nel nuovo continente e registrato 9 dischi con jazzisti del calibro di Irene Schweitzer, Duško Goykovich, John Lewis, Steve Lacy, Paul McCandless, Kenny Wheeler, Chuck Israels, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi, Chico Freeman e molti altri.
Kyle Gregory ha studiato tromba classica e jazz alla Berklee school of Music e nelle University dell' Indiana e del Nord Colorado conseguendo il Diploma nel 1995 sotto la guida William Adam e David Baker, due fra i pie importanti insegnanti degli Stati Uniti. Per cinque anni ha ricoperto la cattedra di studi jazzistici presso l' University Bradley a Peoria, Illinois. Nel 1990 ha ricevuto dal Governo americano il prestigioso Fullbright Grant per la sua ricerca svolta in Ungheria su Pedagogia musicale e improvvisazione. Ha collaborato con noti artisti jazz e pop fra cui J.J. Johnson, D. Reeves, Bob Mintzer, The Spinners, The Temptations, and Liza Minnelli. Vive a Verona dal 1998. Collabora con affermati musicisti italiani tra i quali Francesco Bearzatti, Salvatore Maiore, Roberto Dani, Simone Guiducci. Dirige la Abbey Town Jazz Orchestra, giovane formazione friulana con la quale si e esibito pie volte nella nostra regione Salvatore Maiore e uno dei pie prestigiosi bassisti italiani, ha ottenuto numerosi riconoscimenti in tutta Europa. La lista dei musicisti con i quali ha suonato comprende il grande Lee Konitz, Enrico Pierannunzi, Billy Cobham, Franco D'Andrea, Butch Morris, Joseph Jarman, Steve Grossman, Cedar Walton, Flavio Boltro, Roberto Gatto, Eliot Zigmund, Gianni Coscia, Gianluigi Trovasi e molti altri.

CHRIS POTTER (November 2003):

Very open music conceptually – great use of textures and sounds.

JAZZREVIEW (John Kelman, October 2003, USA):

Samo Salamon is a young guitarist from Slovenia who may qualify as one of the hardest working musicians around. Since emerging on the scene a mere two years ago, he has recorded three albums with three different groups, and has at least five other projects either on the go or on the horizon. With Ornethology, Salamon pays tribute both to Ornette Coleman and to one of his primary influences, John Scofield. 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. While Salamon’s compositions borrow liberally from the American tradition, there is a certain Eastern European sensibility. “The Creative Force” starts as a tender ballad which, no sooner is the mood established, moves into a 7/4 section which has the rhythm section developing a very Middle Eastern feel that links this project into one of Salamon’s other bands, the Ansasa Trio. 

The opening track, “A Fake Monk” clearly owes to its namesake, but from a very Scofield-like point of view. “Something Ology” also owes a clear debt to Monk, with its liberal quoting of “Straight, No Chaser”. Other tracks, such as “Where’s the Bill” are more direct homage to the main subject of the recording. Salamon states in his liner notes, in fact, that the idea for the recording came from extensive wood shedding of Coleman’s Atlantic Years box, Beauty is a Rare Thing. One of the lessons Salamon has learned is how to write tunes which seamlessly shift from tight ensemble passages to total free playing, as evidenced by “Alien Child”. 

If Salamon is still developing a voice on guitar, his writing is remarkably developed and mature for his young age. As a guitarist he is certainly capable, but the influences are still worn too much on his sleeve. As a writer however, 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. 

Salamon has surrounded himself with as group of exceptional European musicians. While Salamon is still gaining widespread experience, the rest of the group has a collective résumé that includes work with artists as diverse as Kenny Wheeler, Enrico Rava, Erik Friedlander, Lee Konitz, Carla Bley and Steve Coleman. Zlatko Kaucic is a Slovenian drummer who deserves wider recognition; like Salamon he has assimilated his own experiences with an obvious love of the American tradition; he clearly understands the meaning of swing, and is a sensitive and erudite player. Italian Achille Succi is confident on both alto saxophone and bass clarinet. His alto solo on the ballad, “Two Poles”, is tender and poignant. Bassist Salvatore Maiore, also from Italy, is a firm anchor with a big, round sound. 

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.

ALLABOUTJAZZ (Javier Quinones, October 2003, USA):

Quick and to the Point: Ornette Coleman and John Scofield ought to be proud… 

"A musical convergence between Ornette Coleman, Slovenia and John Scofield doesn’t figure high in any jazz critic’s list of music to look for. Although not exhaustive, the previous three parameters of understanding, however, do serve as guidelines for Ornethology. Leader Samo Šalamon is also a figure of note in the Ansasa Trio. Following the leader isn’t this release’s game though. The material is autonomously arranged, or freely coordinated if you may. Hence, the need for musicians versed and musically savvy, not only on various jazz forms, but also in their respective scholarly and folk musical training. They shine through on all regards interpreting a highly contemporary repertoire that has swing and blues inevitably embedded in its organized jazz free forms. 

As a guitarist, the Slovenian young player features intensive technique that bodes well for material –mostly of his penmanship– inspired by the study of the Texan’s key Atlantic recordings. Although admittedly predisposed towards Scofield, Šalamon asserts himself through such influence –as well as Coleman’s– 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. 

The writing is curiously versatile, although conceptually coherent, even during the briefer pieces peppered through to highlight each player by himself. None lasts even two minutes, all are worthy endeavors. “Jaka The Dog,” begins with percussive/cymbal aquatic splashes, segueing into a woodsier run by Zlatko Kauèiè. Bassist Salvatore Maiore arched the rough and vibrating “Major Salva.” Šalamon plays around with various textures and sci-fi like effects in “Samoel,” while clarinetist and saxophonist Achille Succi floatingly laments his alto on “Achille.” Brevity, however, doesn’t limit the extension of the rest of the material, which varies in texture, nature, tempo shifts, thematic development, as well as duration itself. The quartet keeps matters interesting and moving. 

The sonic personality provided by the partial use of bass clarinet, balanced on the other end with alto sax on other compositions, provides rare harmonic gifts. Evident in the opener, and revealing yet another convergence in its title, it is also a fine soloing medium. “Where’s the Bill,” “Something Ology,” and “Humpty Dumpty” respectively lure the listener with modern jazz, be bop and swing into the freer world of this remarkable quartet. Since the group has also performed the material with Gianluca Petrella performing on trombone, although not represented in the recording, one must wonder how the repertoire responds to such an adaptation. Jazz critics, however, ought to add this one to their “To Do” lists…

ALLABOUTJAZZ - Ornette's Slovenian Hands (Javier Quinones, October 2003, USA):

Brandishing an Ibañez AF-200 guitar, which he describes as “a similar model as the AS-200, which John Scofield uses, but with a thicker body,” Samo Šalamon stirs up freeing jazz from Slovenia. 

As one of the most notable emerging careers from that centrally located European country, youthful daring unmasks someone who can play as beautifully and exotic as the flowers of the Kamnik leek, darkened as Hrastovlje’s Danse Macabre fresco, or as picturesque and open as Maribor’s Main Square. Engaging explorations into “ethno jazz” with the Ansasa Trio, or his take on Ornette Coleman in Ornethology, aren’t going to drive audiences in throngs to the Cankarjev dom because, as he puts it, “the jazz situation in Slovenia is not great. The music I make, as well as that of my drummer and mentor Zlatko Kaucic, is too advanced for Slovenians. I don't think the majority is ready. Although I got fantastic national and international reviews, the labels sign mainstream jazz players and easy listening music that is not exciting and moving. In addition, there aren't many musicians that play such style of music in Slovenia. As luck would have it, I have played with guys from Italy who are more advanced.” Šalamon adds that aside from the jazz scene, in Slovenia “music life is not really shiny.” Thus, he has to teach guitar to survive. “You can live off music if you sell out,” the Scofield admirer adds, “if you work with pop bands and stuff like that, but I don't want to do that. I want to play music that I like and not to sell out. I think by being honest and sincere one can still make it. That, at least is what I hope.” 

Ornethology is the result of his Coleman inspired studies and the Slovenian’s tale of discovery reveals the usual pattern of viral dissemination among musicians so thoroughly enhanced –as well as threatened– by today’s technological advances. Šalamon discovered Coleman at 21 “when Zlatko Kaucic, the drummer in the quartet, who played with Steve Lacy for years, introduced me to Ornette, but I wasn't ready then. It was too heavy. Then, last year I got the Complete Atlantic Recordings, which really knocked me out. I transcribed all the themes and some Ornette solos as I'm still transcribing them. This music changed jazz. How true the title The Shape of Jazz to Come is. I really like Ornette's themes, especially his phrasing, which I try to transfer to guitar. The title of the recording, Ornethology, or the scientific study of Ornette Coleman if you may, is a dedication to Ornette's music. Some of his concepts from 40 years ago were used, but integrated with my own ideas and other influences. I think something new was created nonetheless.” 

Furthermore, for the Slovenian, Coleman “is the most melodic player in the history of jazz. I really like his classic quartet. I also like the later trios with Izenson and Moffett and the quartet with Dewey Redman. As for harmolodics, is seen also in this quartet. In it, however, I am the composer of all tunes and its leader, yet I do not have the primary function. We all are on the same level where equality of all instruments is important. That gives us the possibilities of the interplay and higher communication.” 

“Ornethology, or the scientific study of Ornette Coleman... Some of his concepts from 40 years ago were used, but integrated with my own ideas and other influences. I think something new was created nonetheless.” 

In talking about the production itself, as well as the musicians, Šalamon is stereotypically self-critical, albeit effusive in his praises too. “The production of the album could be a lot better, but the personnel here in Slovenia is not used to this kind of music, so it is how it is. I think the most important thing is that the music is great, because then you forget about other factors. The musicians on this project, however, were fantastic. I called up drummer Kaucic, a musical role model, fantastic person, favorite musician of mine, excellent composer and performer, who played with figures ranging from Kenny Wheeler, or Steve Lacy, to Paolo Fresu. Then on the bass is one of the best Italian players Salvatore Maiore, featuring great sound and abilities. It was the right choice. What proved most surprising was the chemistry with the alto sax and bass clarinet player Achille Succi, whose playing I really love. He is one of the most melodic players I have heard and had the ability to play with. We developed a great –almost telepathical– understanding. That’s nice! I think we got the chemistry going in the spirit of Ornette and I hope more people will be able to witness this.” 

On occasion, however, the quartet performs with trombonist Gianluca Petrella. “I think the music gets a different character, since trombone is a different instrument with different abilities. Although I have to say that I prefer the bass clarinet and alto sax combination since it is more versatile, at least with these tunes, which were written for these two instruments. Although it will be interesting to see and to hear this material performed by other players. In the future, we will play with the trumpet player Kyle Gregory and later in 2004 with Ralph Alessi and Chris Speed. It will be exciting to hear some stuff with some new tunes also.” 

Under such social, cultural and musical conditions, I wondered how the audiences react to the quartet’s performances. “The audience,” according to the guitarist, “like the energy of the band. Kaucic is one of the more interesting drummers I've heard. He has his own way of playing. One can really see his experiences with Lacy, Archie Shepp or Wheeler; so the audience really senses that and he attracts many people. It depends where we play, on the festivals that are used to this more avant-garde music, the reactions are great, while in some places this music sounds too heavy. I hope, nonetheless, that we will be able to wake people to see that one can be really creative. All I want to do is to play my own music and maybe present it to a larger audience because it is really interesting. Of course, at this moment it is very hard, since I do everything by myself. It is tough, but I'm working hard.” 

His guitar is equipped with D'addario strings, Chrome 0.11. He aspires to be sponsored, at least by D'addario as “it's really hard to get them here in Slovenia. Some times I play for a couple of months with the same strings, which worsens the sound. I should change them every two weeks or so, but as I said it is hard to get them and they are quite expensive here.” He also features a set up including “a Fender Concert amp, which is similar to a Twin Reverb, but I think that it has a nicer, fuller and thicker sound. I love it! As far as the effects are concerned, I'm not really such a freak. I use mainly some chorus, really changed with the frequencies, some distortion, but not much. I use that from my multi effect Boss GT-5!”

FINANCE (Gregor Bauman, October 2003):

The record Ornethology of the young Maribor guitarist Samo Salamon is a proof enough that there is a new modern jazz generation growing in our small community, which is finely cruising between improvised artefacts of tradition and blending them into technically recent conceptual directions. However, it would be wrong to assume that these projects deal with some more complicated translating of the jazz legacy, without individual thinking. Therefore we can talk about freshness and wider integration, which shows us totally new sound landscapes as a sign of boldness, virtuosity and general respect towards the material from where the music gets its tale. Samo Salamon has not long ago studied (transcribed!) the legacy of the great Ornette Coleman, which was left behind by this influential free jazz saxophone player while recording for the record company Atlantic (the end of 50s and the beginning of the 60s). Anyone would here say right away that we are dealing with a project of Coleman's arrangements, however this is not the case. Ornethology brings us a collection of music written by Salamon (with the exception of Humpty Dumpty), which is only leaning on the "translated" concepts of Coleman, naturally adapted to the lineup of the band. The improvisation pieces are a sum of healthy thinking, wide education and especially sound sensuality, which sublimely bursts out from the interior of the human and performer. And this exactly gives the album its additional value since all throughout the album we can feel the incredible relationship between respect for the past and the unforceable discoveries of the new. The combination, which can sometimes be superficial, is in this case highly convincing and inspires us with general playability of the band (Samo Salamon - guitar, Zlatko Kaucic - drums, Luigi Mosso on bass and Achille Succi on alto saxophone and bass clarinet), which was shown by the quartet also on the latest Ljubljana jazz festival. At that time we might have been talking about a surprise, but the album tells us already at a brief listening that this is not a coincidence. 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, cleary aiming abroad. The home place and community is namely intelectually and in numbers too small for the music of such heights and importance.

JAZZLIVE (Josef Pepsch Muska, September 2003, Austria):

The Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon faces himself on the CD Ornethology quite intensively with the music of Ornette Coleman. Interestingly is Salamon closer to the Coleman music from the 60s than to his later projects with his group Prime Time. The comparison and the influence doesn't happen through cover versions of the compositions of Ornette (Humpty Dumpty is the only Ornette Coleman tune on the CD), on the contrary Salamon tries to catch the fascination of Ornette's music in his own tunes. He suceeds in this brilliantly and although the fact that Ornette's spirit lives, the music is still the one of the Salamon Quartet. Especially worth mentioning, since it is not so common but therefore also more interesting, is the lineup of the group. Bass and drums in interplay with the guitar are not so rare, but if we add a bass clarinet to that, then we get something exceptional. The mix of guitar and bass clarinet lines are beside the passages, where almost the whole group enters into the world of free improvisation, the strongest moments on Ornethology. I would also like to mention that there are for me no weak moments here!

JAZZ DIMENSIONS (Carina Prange, September 2003, Germany):

Ornethology is and album with the Music full of drive, activity, creativty and sometimes even agressiveness - however not forgetting also the quieter moments. The goal of the guitarist Samo Salamon was a transformation of Ornette Coleman's musical concepts - not without reason has the CD such a title.

In this transformation wander the compositions from Salamon to the lands of modern jazz, free improvisation and experiments in the electronic way, however the latter without using complex technical equipment. Ornethology takes the listener into the deeps of the exciting compositions and of the strong sound og the group.

Other members of the group beside Salamon are  Zlatko Kaucic on Drums and Percussion, Achille Succi (a-sax, b-cl) and Salvatore Maiore (b). They all have enormous presence, concentration and self-confidence in playing and experimenting.

In the end this is a rewarding and highly interesting album from Slovenia - in the first line with the strong compositions from Salamon, who is showing to the jazzers from the western Europe, how easily can we integrate eastern european rhythms into the western music. Intersting things will come from this direction.

POLET - Ornethologist Samo (Jure Potokar, September 2003):

The young guitarist from Maribor is perhaps the nicest surprise of Slovenian music this year!

Although he is really young has the guitarist from Maribor Samo Salamon (born in 1978) published already three records as a leader, two with a trio (A Dream Come True and Arabian Picnic, both last year). Considering the circumstances this equals a venture, even if we didn't deal with how the records are from the musical point of view. Since I have heard only the latest, I can say for that one that it is one of the nicest surprises of the home production this year. It brings us juicy and witty music, which is an extremely successful mix of jazz improvisation and tradition, without one being below the other. So, we don't have to wonder that Salamon's performance on this years jazz festival was among most pleasing and productive moments of the show.
The record Ornethology is a result of extensive listening of collected recordings of the great Ornette Coleman for the Atlantic Records. Not only listening. The guitarist has transcribed all the tunes (which also equals a venture) and wrote down the concepts, which Coleman played (in the end of the 50s and beginning of the 60s) and with which he strongly influenced jazz. From all this huge amount of work there is not much Coleman's music on the record (only the excellent version of the tune Humpty Dumpty), but there are more ideas, how it should also be. It is more important that Salamon opened in this way the doors to the understanding of some more productive jazz concepts, which serve as a basis for creating very imaginative tunes written by Salamon, which are recognizable enough already at first listening.

This is what makes the record Ornethology so fantastic, although its virtues do not end with this. Equally important is that Salamon has on the guitar a totally recognizable style, which hardly resembles to what we are used to and tired of when listening to jazz guitar. it is true that we can still here John Scofield in Salamon's style, since Salamon studied with him, however his style is already personal and self-confident. This stands especially when he is phrasing with the horn player (perfectly supplementing with the bass clarinet of Achille Succi), or playing solos, which are rarely heard as we would imagine them on a guitar. If we add to this the excellent playing of the whole quartet with the important role of the percussionist Zlatko Kaucic, with whom Salamon was learning years ago, then we get a record that simply convinces!

At the end the most important are after all the excellent compositions of Salamon and inspiring musicianship. That is something that is really not missing on the record Ornethology.

DAVE DOUGLAS (August 2003):

Great playing and writing!

MUSKA (Mario Batelic, August 2003):

Something totally different is Salamon's new band Ornethology Quartet, whose name already says that it is a dedication and homage to Ornette Coleman. Under the mentorship of Zlatko Kaucic and cooperation of italian musicians, the reed player Achille Succi and bass player Salvatore Maiore, Salamon is more than succesfully dealing with Ornette's "theory and praxis". The music on the album is witty and full of surprising turns. It is never linear, it stick to the ideas of harmolodics and gives each instrument an equal importance. It is interesting that Salamon also gives homage to Monk, but not with a cover version but in his own tune A Fake Monk, which is more than a successful introduction to the album with its groovy rhythm and sharp sounds. There are some group improvisations on the album, however the writer is mainly Salamon, who blends in perfectly with a lot more experienced musicians.

MUSKA (David Braun, August 2003):

Salamon is a type of a modern musician, his thinking world incorporates all positive guidelines: he thinks eclectically and plays without burdain the music with his individual character, while working more and more internationally and in a integrative way.

MLADINA (Ico Vidmar, July 2003):

This album is in more ways an exception in defining and practicing jazz in our country. The biggest one is hidden of course already in the title, bringing with it an inspiration, studious listening, learning and after all also a fight with rules, which are nowadaya being taught to a young musician by the music jazz schools, magazines, media and the mainstream jazz listeners community. Album is a dedication and a thanks to Ornette Coleman, the innovator of modern jazz, maybe even the biggest one after the 2nd World War after Charlie Parker. The second exception is that the venture is done by a jazz guitarist. Samo Salamon from Maribor was not part of that style of guitar playing, which over John Scofield and others influenced all the guitarists and made them sound virtually the same. The turn is that the guitarist is looking for new and expanding his musical horizons. The third is not an exception anymore. Samo's musical mentor was namely Zlatko Kaucic, his coplayer on the album and according to the names of Italian musicians on the album the one who has a lot to do with the quartet. The band contains the reedman Achille Succi and bass player Salvatore Maiore. The result is a jazz album mostly of Salamon's compositions, which at the end come from traditional bebop, thematics, enough complex structure, but among them we also find openings, where the guitar is not caught in a sample, where the co-players breathe more freely, where there are moments of different homophony, how Coleman would also call his group play. Since the album was in self label and Salamon's quartet performed on many jazz festivals, it will contain enough good and partly also witty music. I give a warm welcome to the home ornethology.

LJUBLJANA JAZZ FESTIVAL (June 2003):

Slovene answer to John Scofield...

DNEVNIK (Jure Potokar, June 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.

VECER (Darinko Kores Jacks, June 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.

FINANCE (Gregor Bauman, 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.

MUSKA (Rok Juric, June 2003):

If we classify Salamon as a classical, orthodox jazzer, what he definitely is not. But when we classify him in the meaning of modern jazz, where the limits to other musical directions are narrow, then he is a jazzer. His musical creativity gets its inspirations in many worlds - classical jazz, improvisation and free, he reaches to the fields of etno and folk music, integrates urban music of jungle, drum'n'bass and fusion. Although he would probably be capable of joining all this different worlds in just one project with his guitar and compository thought, he does not fall under this popular turbo eclecticism. For almost every direction he has his own group. He has already entered visibly with two groups among us: the Ansas Trio and Ornethology Quartet. Ansasa published namely a really pleasant and fresh CD Arabian Picnic, while with the Ornethology Quartet he is presenting himself on the Jazz festival in Ljubljana.

Ornethology Quartet is a lineup, where the only 25-year old guitarist manages to get together old cats like Zlatko Kaucic on drums, Achille Succi on bass clarinet and alto saxophone and Salvatore Maiore on bass. The names that he saw on stages in one or the other role are not of that kind that you can buy with money, you need namely much more: ideas that inspire them, everything is needed to reach a synergy at the end. And if cats like Kaucic and Succi leave the iniciative to a younger guy, then this is the best proof of his quality. Already the selected musicians show that this project of Salamon is more jazzy oriented, even more leads us to an orthodox jazz direction the title of the quartet, where we discover Ornette Coleman. Although is Ornette's jazz orthodox only from the time perspective, we can also through his music and especially through Salamon's music follow the strong symbiosis with the new jazz, which is so hard to define. However, Salamon fits with his guitar perfectly into this profile. This one is quite often really fast, but accurate, but it can also be really tenderly dreamy and soft. How similar to John Scofield, with whom Salamon has learned with in the past.
That is why it is worth to check out also the Slovenian performance on this year's 44th Ljubljana jazz festival. He came there because of his real freshness and youth, which Salamon is offering although he has older players surrounding him. He is not there because of the intention 'let this guy play, he did a lot for the slovenian jazz', which was too often leading the choice for the slovenian act on the jazz festival.

SKRITE NOTE (David Braun, May 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.

ANSASA TRIO: Arabian Picnic (2002) Samo Records Samo Salamon - guitar Vasko Atanasovski - flute, soprano saxophone Zmago Turica - violin Samo Pecar - bass Andrej Hrvatin - percussion Nino Mureskic - percussion

JAZZREVIEW (John Kelman, October 2003, USA):

The Ansasa Trio consists of three young musicians from Slovenia, who combine Afro-Cuban, Balcan, Indian and Arabic music with the improvisational spirit of jazz to create an ethnic fusion that is engaging and completely accessible. Their first recording, Arabian Picnic, shows off the compositional abilities of guitarist Samo Salamon, with plenty of interpretive input from bassist Samo Pecar and percussionist Andrej Hrvatin. While Salamon and Pecar play instruments traditionally associated with jazz, the trio finds its unique niche through the ethnic percussion of Hrvatin, who plays instruments including darbouka, udu drum and bodhran. 

While the track “Ten Camels” doesn’t stray far from Arabic roots, “On a Sunday Afternoon at 3PM” starts as a relaxed ballad before moving into an uptempo samba, the difference being that it is driven rhythmically by udu drum and triangle. 

Supplementing the trio on select tracks is Vasko Atanasovski on soprano sax and flute, Zmago Turica on violin and Nino Mureskic on additional percussion.