Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Samo Salamon: Dolphyology: Complete Eric Dolphy For Solo Guitar

8

Samo Salamon: Dolphyology: Complete Eric Dolphy For Solo Guitar

By

View read count
Samo Salamon: Dolphyology: Complete Eric Dolphy For Solo Guitar
As the clock ticked toward 2020, jazz guitarists began recording tributes to jazz giants of yesterday who were not guitarists: Dom Minasi offered up a compelling and beautiful salute to pianist Cecil Taylor with Remembering Cecil (Unseen Rain Records, 2019), and Miles Okazaki gave us Work: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Monk (Self Produced, 2018). In 2022, it is Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon's turn, with his presentation of Dolphyology: Complete Eric Dolphy For Solo Guitar.

Some would say that Eric Dolphy (1928 -1964), had a trajectory aimed at jazz gianthood cut short when he died due to diabetes complications at thirty-six. But maybe he made it there anyway, via his seven record releases in his lifetime—Out To Lunch (Blue Note, 1964), is a classic— in addition to his stellar sideman work with saxophonists John Coltrane, Oliver Nelson and Ornette Coleman, drummer Chico Hamilton and bassist & composer Charles Mingus. Some would call him a free jazz artist, and this may come, in part, from his soloing, which was wild, freewheeling and unpredictable. On bass clarinet he created loopy, madcap flights of sound, like balloons blown up tight and let go before the rubber stem got tied off. On alto sax he was more frenetic, sharp notes stabbing in from all directions.

If Dolphy flew free on his soloing, his compositions were tethered to the mainstream, pulling toward the "out there" side of that style of jazz. And that is where Samo Salamon comes in, with his guitar.

The solo guitar setting allows for a fresh review of the Dolphy sound. Salamon put the Covid experience to good use by delving deep into the reedman's artistry, listening, transcribing, playing and recording Dolphy tunes in quarantine isolation, in his living room. The twenty-eight compositions presented here, on two CDs, break the Dolphy approach down to its essence. The music is treated reverently, with (Dolphy would surely love this) a good deal of highly inspired improvisation.

The set opens with "Miss Movement," a tune that can be heard on Chico Hamilton's The Three Faces of Chico (Warner Brothers, 1959). Salamon turns it into three minutes of deliberation and clarity, with some particularly piquant single noting. "Serene," from Dolphy's' Far Cry, With Booker Little (New Jazz, 1962) lives up to its title, with the guitarist in a relaxed but focused mode. "Something Sweet, Something Tender," from Dolphy's most famous recording, Out to Lunch (Blue Note, 1964), has Salamon feeling frisky, taking risks, letting things fly like one of Dolphy's freed balloons in the beginning, before settling into a magisterial segment of low tones.

Taken as a whole, these two discs of Dolphy explorations are a riveting, off-the-well-traveled-road listening experience. Salamon cites Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy as major influences. Could Ornette Coleman be next for the solo guitar treatment?

Track Listing

CD 1: Miss Movement; Serene; The Prophet; Miss Ann; Lady E; 17 West; April Fool; Something Sweet, Something Tender; Springtime; Hat And Beard; The Baron; Iron Man; South Street Exit; Inner Flight I. CD 2: 245; Les; Lotsa Potsa; Straight Up And Down; Burning Spear; C.W.; Strength And Unity; Out To Lunch; Mandrake; Far Cry; In the Blues; Red Planet; Gazzelloni; Inner Flight II.

Personnel

Samo Salamon
guitar, electric
Additional Instrumentation

Samo Salamon: acoustic guitars, mandoline (#14, CD 1)

Album information

Title: Dolphyology: Complete Eric Dolphy For Solo Guitar | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Samo Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter 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.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.