“Richard Galliano has changed the course of accordion history. We can talk about before and after Galliano”. Many will probably agree with the exhaustive opinion of Yasuhiro Kobayashi, accordionist and musician accompanist of the singer Björk.
French accordion virtuoso Richard Galliano is beloved by the Italian audience and one of the family at Umbria Jazz. Galliano is also the only accordionist who records for the prestigious classical music record label Deutsche Grammophon (“Bach”, “Mozart”, “Vivaldi”, “Nino Rota”). His technical mastery and “orchestral” vision of the accordion have moved forward the limitations of this instrument, making it “a Steinway with braces”, as he likes to say.
Galliano has recorded more than 50 albums under his name and collaborated with an impressive number of prestigious artists and musicians of many different genres: Chet Baker, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Gary Burton, Michel Portal, Kurt Elling, Serge Reggiani, Claude Nougaro, Juliette Gréco, Charles Aznavour, Serge Gainsbourg, Nigel Kennedy. Galliano is a great expert in Argentine tango and French new musette. He has had the merit of making the accordion a key instrument in jazz and classical repertoire. He can range through the most diverse genres while remaining himself, with that unique “French touch” made of elegance, natural musicality and sentiment that always captivates audiences worldwide.
His current projects include accordion solos, concerts with the orchestra and the New York Tango Trio (Richard Galliano, accordion; Adrien Moignard, guitar; Diego Imbert, double bass).
