Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Samo Šalamon & Howard Levy
Label: Samo Records
Release: 2018
Length: 46:49
Rating: 4.5/5
Samo Šalamon is considered one of the hottest jazz musicians around right now. The versatile, seasoned guitarist stays endlessly creative, full of ambition and big ideas, and uses them to keep pushing that very creativity. A prolific artist, he can put his name to several albums a year. This January he put out a joint album with American harmonica innovator Howard Levy, a revered master of his craft and multiple Grammy winner who, over a long career, has lent his talents to the likes of Bobby McFerrin, Donald Fagen, Dolly Parton, Paquito D’Rivera, Paul Simon and Rabih Abou-Khali, among others. To give shape to their shared musical idea, Levy and Šalamon picked Maribor, where last May they recorded the whole studio effort from start to finish, the album »Peaks Of Light«.
Two musicians, two worlds, two different instruments, two reactions and two completely different characters, all pulling together in harmonious strokes of musical expression. Even though the album is very simply conceived and minimalist in vision, it’s loaded with meaning! The key surely lies in the playfulness, backed by the rich, wide-ranging improvisations of both masters. The album moves from more demanding moments to wonderfully flowing, instantly winning ones, and overall it speaks to the listener without a trace of pretension. There’s no shortage of absolute freedom in musical expression, which is a must when we’re talking about good jazz. The production delivers a top-notch organic sound, where the live pulse of the studio, along with all the passion and emotion of both players, is carried over to the recording in a truly authentic way. This is an album played with great finesse and a soft touch. It has the organic sound of a natural blend of harmonica and guitar pastels.
At the same time, the two musicians understand each other incredibly well: they sense each other, they read each other. Levy’s mileage and experience are exceptional, and it’s amazing how many different faces this grand master of the harmonica shows on this album. Our Samo often plays the role of the patient companion, the observer who diligently holds the songs together. In some lines the instruments chase each other to the point where each begins doubling a certain motif, but they don’t dwell on it. They rise above those moments too, and quickly reach for the higher spheres of improvisational play. Still, they never overdo it. The album is thoroughly listenable. After every burst of solo adventurism, both musicians skillfully come back to the compact, tangible substance of the main motif, which is usually how they close out each piece.
The album speaks to you with a glow of lovely accessibility. It has moments that call for a slightly »thicker skin«, but it’s balanced extremely well with moments that are sensitive, calm and richly melodic, like the mystical Sleepy Burja and, right after it, Riding the Urban Range. The playful moment in Para Para is a hugely welcome move that adds some dynamic variety to the album. Chaplin Walk is a loosened-up farce with a light veil of cabaret. Even though Levy is a touch more in the foreground with his harmonica-wailing on the album, Šalamon is plenty active with his improvisational moments on guitar. He first stuns with a brilliant, strong-willed solo in the second half of Barren, and later takes a similar approach in Riding the Urban Range. There are no real free jazz moments this time, a genre Samo usually loves to hang out with, apart from a fleeting hint, perhaps, in the intro of Our Time, and the closing section of Freeze, which wraps up the album. The centerpiece is the three-part The Harmonica Suite, with a more improvisationally lively middle part, while in the third part both musicians gently calm the piece down and breathe a touch of mysticism into it. The dialogue between the two instruments could easily work as the soundtrack to a film.
The album also has an intuitive touch, which demands that filigree softness and refined sensitivity, along with great musical harmony between the two players, if not outright exceptional execution in sync across two musical worlds. Šalamon and Levy have come up with a one-of-a-kind fusion of two musical worlds, reflecting the equal expression of both instruments and of the two musical geniuses whose names are on this album. At the same time, »Peaks Of Light« is an absolute musical oddity. Inimitable, singular and unique.
It’ll be interesting to see what else Samo will keep surprising and rewarding us with in the future. He’s got no shortage of bold ideas! »Peaks Of Light« is just one stop on Samo’s fascinating musical adventure.
Lineup
Howard Levy – harmonica
Samo Šalamon – acoustic & electric guitar
Production
Darko Kuković – Kuki
