Salar Salman by Afrobotic Musicology

Salar Salman (1959), an exceptional musician and composer, was born in Kirkuk, a city in Kurdistan — the North of Iraq. As a young boy he was famed in his village for his rich and warm voice. When he develloped his talent as a guitar player he was seen as one of the best guitar players from North Iraq. As his fingers found a way to accompany his moving voice, he was able to share his songs with a broader audience. Salar Salman's songs about love, tenderness and soreness affected many people and delivered him the nickname 'Santana of Kurdistan'. Unanswered love, hidden love, lost love, failing love — his lyrics resonated with his peers in their integrity and honesty. But it was not only his new way of storytelling that moved many; the way he composed music was something new. Moving away from the more traditional, folkloric, often monotonous sound, his melodies moved freely. Inspired by Afro-Western sounds from the 70’s and 80’s, like jazz, psychedelic rock or flamenco, he was able to give a new meaning to his own musical heritage and to create an alternative sound that is still influencing younger generations of Iraqi Kurdish musicians today.

Check the interview by Peter Holslin for Bandcamp Daily - also added as liner notes insert with the vinyl version > https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/salar-salman-self-titled-interview

For the first release I decided to compile some edits of myself, but AM won’t be a label strictly for edits, I will also bring out new productions of other artists (in any kind of genre…), the future of the label is completely open.

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