Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Samo Salamon Bassless Trios: Duality

Samo Salamon Bassless Trios: Duality

By Nic Jones
December 26, 2011
View read count

Guitarist Samo Salamon is one of those players quietly but fully engaged with moving the music forward. His vocabulary is entirely his own by dint of the individuality of phrasing that pervades the music of both trios featured in this set.

Despite the similarity of instrumentation, the two groups' different personalities is testament to what's going down. The US trio, with alto saxophonist

Tim Berne

saxophone, alto
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Tim Berne and drummer

Tom Rainey

drums
b.1957

" data-original-title="" title="">Tom Rainey, flirts with the kind of music

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman was producing with

The primeTime sublime Community Orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">The primeTime sublime Community Orchestra, albeit with a greater measure of reflection and less febrile energy. "Mea Culpa," in particular, is marked by both restraint and a feeling that at any moment the proceedings might not only erupt but will become something completely different. The duo passage played by Salamon and Rainey highlights this in no small part, but when Berne comes back in he takes the music in another direction.

On the aptly titled "Twists and Turns," Salamon and Berne played the head in unison and, whilst it's a knotty thing indeed, the rhythmic vitality and absence of a bassist combine to give the music a restlessly inquiring stamp.

The trio with reed player

Achille Succi

clarinet
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Achille Succi and drummer

Roberto Dani

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Roberto Dani is powered by a different source of energy, resulting in dynamic variation of no small order. This is notable on "Roofs in the City," where the leader's input gives the music momentum counterbalanced by Succi's reflections. Again, the overall effect is of music involving no little risk-taking, a quality which is always welcome. Both of these groups are appreciative of it, too, ensuring that their music both intrigues and delights, rewarding repeated listening every time.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Blistering; Flying Potatoes; Mea Culpa; Twists And Turns; Falcon's Flight; Roofs In The City; Kei's Garden; Road To Nantucket; Nantucket; The Weight Of One Daisy; Asking For A Break.

Personnel

Samo Salamon

guitar, electric

Samo Salamon: guitar; Tim Berne: alto saxophone (1-4); Tom Rainey: drums (1-4); Achille Succi: alto saxophone (5-7, 9), bass clarinet (10, 11); Roberto Dani: drums (5-11).

Album information

Title: Duality | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: SAZAS

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Charles Lloyd Quartet: Love-In
< Previous

Take Five With Frank Herzberg
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.