Samo Salamon – Sunday Interview ~ The Free Jazz Collective

Photo by Janin Vezonik

1. What is your greatest joy in improvised music?

   Definitely
   the moment of unpredictability and the communication with other musicians on
   stage.

2. What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?

   Openess in music and kindness and humbleness in life.

3. Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?
   
   Hmm, tough question since there are so many. But let’s from the jazz
   world, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Bill Frisell, Kenny Wheeler, Ben
   Monder, John Abercrombie and many others.
4. If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?
   
   Would be interesting to improvise with Bach I think and yeah, I would
   have loved to play with Eric Dolphy.
5. What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?
   
   Just trying to stay creative and that music and playing would still
   present a challenge and bring joy. Where that road takes me doesn’t even
   matter so much. As long as I enjoy it.
6. Are you interested in popular music and – if yes – what music/artist do
   you particularly like?
   
   Oh, yes, definitely. I follow a lot of indie music, am a big fan of
   Ben Howard, Wilco, Band of Horses, Dave Matthews Band and Wolf Alice as well
   as many singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, and others.
7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
   
   I wouldn’t. I’m happy the way I am.
8. Which of your albums are you most proud of?
   
   Hard to say
   since every album has a unique story and is placed in a specific musical and
   personal period in my life. But let’s say I’m definitely happy about the
   albums with Arild Andersen and Bob Moses (Pure and Simple), with Tony
   Malaby (Two Hours, Traveling Moving Breathing), with Tim Berne
   and Tom Rainey (Duality), with Drew Gress and Tom Rainey (Almost Almond) and my solo acoustic album Dolphyology (including all the
   compositions of Eric Dolphy arranged for acoustic guitar) to single out a
   few.
9. Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how
   often?
   
   After the release no, since I have listened to it before the release
   a looooot. I usually mix and master all of my own albums, so that means a
   lot of listening and adjusting levels, eqs, etc.
10. Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your
    life?
    
    Hmm, heavy question. Probably the album Dirt by Alice in
    Chains.
11. What are you listening to at the moment?
    
    Currently
    listening to a lot of Paul Simon, Neil Young and Steely Dan.
12. What artist outside music inspires you?
    
    Mainly poets like
    Robert Creeley or Wallace Stevens and many others. But also visual artists
    like Kandinsky, Dali, Chaggal, etc. 

Samo Salamon on the Free Jazz Blog