Richard Galliano brings the French flair of musette and chanson together with a cosmopolitan, fresh jazz. If the accordion is once again enjoying a greater status in contemporary music, then he has played a major part in this. Galliano shines with a playing assurance and virtuosity that very few can match.
Richard Galliano explores his instrument from all angles and is also a gifted pianist and trombonist, which sensitises him to tone colours and sound volume. Before opening up to jazz, he sought dialogue with the human voice alongside vocalists such as Barbara, Juliette Gréco and Georges Moustaki. He also learnt to cover an enormous spectrum of emotions with tiny nuances while making music with instrumental artists such as Chet Baker, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis and many others. During his long and prolific career, Galliano recorded more than 70 albums under his own name.
The world-famous French figurehead was inspired and encouraged by the most influential bandoneonist of all time: Astor Piazzolla. Like Piazzolla with his "Tango Nuevo", Galliano liberated accordion music from traditionalism and created the "New Musette": the contemporary combination of musette with blues, tango and jazz. Mediterranean traditions, imaginary folklore, chanson, manouche and vaudeville music, swing and contemporary European jazz of various colours become a multi-layered musical universe that may seem light, but whose effect is all the more lasting. With the new "New York Tango Trio", Galliano pays his own personal tribute to his mentor Astor Piazzolla.
