Samo Salamon Bassless Trio: Unity

For a long time, Slovenian guitarist and composer, Samo Salamon, has pursued a particular path. His signature format has become the bassless trio and he has continued to find new possibilities in this relatively rare setting. The latest incarnation of the bassless trio consists of Salamon together with American powerhouse-drummer John Hollenbeck and the sophisticated British saxophonist Julian Argüelles.

Unity finds Salamon in his usual eclectic mood. He is not afraid of distorted outbursts, as evidenced by the explosions on "Drop the D" and "Soundgarden," but he also creates quiet soundscapes and clear melodic lines.

Hollenbeck brings his propulsive energy to the proceedings, but is subdued and coloristic as well. Thus, the epic composition "Kei's Venice" ends with quiet rustling sounds and on "Moonless" he adds a glockenspiel interlude.

Followers of Salamon will recognize some of his old and recent signature compositions, including "Asking for a Break," "Moonless," "Seagulls in Maine" and "Kei's Secret." His new band members explore the tunes with zest and conviction and Unity is another worthy effort from Salamon. However, it would also be interesting to hear Salamon explore other formats again, like he did with Orchestrology (KGOSF Records, 2014), his recording with strings, and Ives (Samo Records, 2014), his meeting with two other guitarists: Manu Codjia and Mikkel Ploug.