Samo Salamon

Electric guitarist Samo Salamon was born on September 10, 1978, in Slovenia, a southern Central European country that has produced only a handful of jazz musicians. He first took up classical guitar in his hometown of Maribor before pursuing jazz training at the conservatory in Klagenfurt. In the winter of 2000 he traveled to North America for lessons with his foremost influence, John Scofield, and also worked with Rudy Linka, Tim Brady, and Andrea Allione. Beyond Scofield, his principal early inspirations included Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, John Abercrombie, Ornette Coleman, and Steve Lacy, along with poets Langston Hughes and Robert Creeley and composers Béla Bartók, Olivier Messiaen, and Witold Lutoslawski. Over the following four years he refined his playing in the Ansasa Trio. Establishing himself thereafter as a bandleader, Salamon assembled a quartet featuring Achille Succi, Salvatore Maiore, and Zlatko Kaucic that toured extensively across Europe. On his second visit to the United States in 2004 he formed connections with Tony Malaby, Mark Helias, Tom Rainey, Josh Roseman, and Gerald Cleaver. American saxophonist Dave Binney and trumpeter Kyle Gregory later entered Salamon’s expanded sextet, as did bassist Paolino Dalla Porta. Additional collaborators who have joined him on stage or in the studio encompass Paul McCandless, Mark Turner, Drew Gress, Julian Arguelles, Donny McCaslin, John Hebert, Tyshawn Sorey, Karriem Riggins, Fareed Haque, Roberto Dani, Michel Godard, Joris Teepe, and numerous Slovenian colleagues. Contemporary figures such as Ben Monder, Greg Osby, and Steve Coleman have likewise shaped his outlook. Salamon directs an array of small- and medium-sized ensembles, belongs to the Mamasaal Quartet and the SGR Trio, and has released recordings on the Fresh Sound/New Talent and Splasc(h) labels.