Richard Galliano (born December 12, 1950, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes) is a French accordionist of Italian heritage.
He was drawn to music at an early age, starting with the accordion at 4, influenced by his father Luciano, an accordionist originally from Italy, living in Nice.
After a long and intense period of study (he took up lessons on the trombone, harmony, and counterpoint at the Academy of Music in Nice), at 14, in a search to expand his ideas on the accordion, he began listening to jazz and heard records by the trumpet player Clifford Brown. “I copied all the choruses of Clifford Brown, impressed by his tone and his drive, his way of phrasing over the thunderous playing of Max Roach”. Fascinated by this new world, Richard was amazed that the accordion had never been part of this musical adventure. In this period, Galliano won twice the first prize in the “world accordion cap competition” which took place in Spain (1966) and France (1967). In the Spanish competition, the participants’ duty work was “Chaconne” by the Israeli accordionist Yehuda Oppenheimer. Galliano and Oppenheimer kept up their musical collaboration and personal friendship until Oppenheimer’s death in 2012.
Some later collaborations include Astor Piazolla, George Mraz, Brigitte Fontaine, Al Foster, Juliette Greco, Charles Aznavour, Ron Carter, Chet Baker, Enrico Rava, Martial Solal, Miroslav Vitouš, Trilok Gurtu, Jan Garbarek, Michel Petrucciani, Michel Portal, Eddy Louiss, Biréli Lagrène, Sylvain Luc, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Ivan Paduart, Anouar Brahem, Wynton Marsalis, and Toots Thielemans. He was a key member of Claude Nougaro’s band for several years as a pianist and accordionist. (by wikipedia)
And here´s a pretty good album featuring Jean-Charles Capon:
What a handsome couple ! From the first bars of this duo, the obviousness of this meeting captured in 1992 is essential. The accordionist and the cellist do wonders both as soloist and as accompanist. Without the bow, Jean-Charles Capon (“the Lester Young of the cello” according to his playmate) could even pass for a double bass player. Their “blues” is obvious. However, between one of the princely instruments of the classical repertoire and the symbol of popular music, there was, a priori, a world. A unity of tone emerges, between the light mood of the musette colors and the sobs contained in a virtuoso bow. (Renaud Czarnes)
Resumption of the famous duet Capon-Galliano, where the marriage of the cello and the accordion delivers us a real little music in which the charm is constant, where the tones, of the most mixed, give a very warm accent to these reunions of time . Both of them light up the blues and we can only thrill with happiness listening to this album which will soon be 10 years old and has not aged. (Jazz Notes)
A CD published in 1992 but nevertheless appearing in the recent catalog of Frémeaux. A masterpiece that it was good to resuscitate. Accordion, yes, but not just any: that of Richard Galliano associated with the cello of Jean-Charles Capon. Curious mixture? Absolutely not. In addition to the original compositions of these two virtuoso artites (Blues sur Seine, Kitou, Neigerie, Bateau mouche), we should also mention the titles of Toots Thielemans or Henri Sauget. The icing on the cake, here are the words of Galliano, which appear in the booklet: “In the minds of a large part of the public, the accordion and the cellist belong to two very distinct social strata. Through this disc, we aim to demonstrate that these two instruments are as noble as each other ”. Bernard Deharbre)
Personnel:
Jean-Charles Capon (cello)
Richard Galliano (accordeon)
Tracklist:
01. Blues Sur Seine (Galliano) 4.44
02. For My Lady (Thielemans) 5.08
03. Un Pied Dans Le Caniveau (Capon) 4.29
04. Waltz For Debby (Evans/Lees) 3.36
05. Laura Et Astor (Galliano) 3.10
06. Kitou (Capon) 4.57
07. Les Forains (Sauguet) 4.10
08. Tears (Reinhardt) 3.53
09. Good Bye Miles (Capon) 5.00
10. Neigerie (Galliano) 4.09
11. Fou Rire (Galliano) 3.29
12. Bateau Mouche (Capon) 3.19
In the minds of a large part of the public, the accordion and the cello belong to two distinct social strata which are very distant from each other. Through this disc we aim to demonstrate that these two instruments are as noble as each other, that their marriage is very rich, that the repertoire can be the most universal there is, and finally that the blues is a musical language in its own right, the content of which does not only go through Harlem. Paris I love you… (Richard Galliano)
More than the unusual sound mixture, it is the meeting of two musical personalities that interests me, and twelve years ago, I proposed to Richard to form this duo. How in the business impose in France an accordion which is not only musette and a cello which is not only classical? Two extraordinary instruments that want to be jazz but French. As Brassens said, “good people don’t like to follow a different route than they do”. We met in Paris and we both live near the Canal Saint-Martin. “Atmosphere, atmosphere?” Blues … on the Seine. Jean-Charles Capon
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