Sunday, February 14, 2021

Samo Salamon & Francois Houle - Unobservable Mysteries (February 2021)

Liner notes by Samo Salamon:

During the lockdown period in 2020 due to the Covid-19 virus I started investigating other forms of cooperation with other musicians. One such form was the idea of long-distance improvisation. The first musician to come to my mind was Francois Houle. We have never played together, although we played with many musicians in common. I've been a fan of Francois for a really long time - he has been one of my favorite improvisers and composers ever since I heard his two fantastic albums Cryptology and In the Vernacular. I contacted Francois if he wants to do it and he was really enthusiastic about it… the process was so smooth and seemed like we were actually playing live and with each other since there was such a connection immediately. I first recorded six improvisations on acoustic guitar, and then Francois did his improvisations on me. The second part was that Francois first recorded six improvisations and then I did the improvisations on him… Francois did an amazing job also mixing and mastering the album. Furthermore, we both decided to search for the titles in the poetry of the great US poet Mary Oliver. Oliver’s emotional poetry reflects the current situation and also the situation which the musicians are facing and have to deal with in these times. But out of every bad comes something good. Can't wait to do this live on stages everywhere!!!! Here we come!!! I hope! ;)


1. Secret Pools 04:41

2. Roots and Seeds 04:04

3. Common Sense Mutters 04:38

4. Cradles 04:37

5. Garden of Dust 05:49

6. Island of Shade 06:24

7. Hum and Sway 04:40

8. Jug of Breath 05:37

9. Unobservable Mysteries 04:18

10. The Wanderings of Water 05:33

11. Longing Leaving Staying 03:52


Francois Houle - clarinet

Samo Salamon - 6 and 12-string guitar


Recorded individually by Samo Salamon (Maribor, Slovenia) and François Houle (Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Editing, Mixing & Mastering: François Houle December 2020


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