Pictures and poetry through music: Richard Galliano
Words by Philharmonic Radio Taipei Host / Shen Hong-yuan
Translated by Naomi Lai Photos provided from United Daily News
France is the only country that can compete with the U.S. for the title of the birthplace of jazz. This comes from the fact that New Orleans, the city where jazz was born, used to be a French colony. Three years ago, Taichung Jazz Festival invited French trumpet player Erik Truffaz and his band to introduce French jazz to local audiences, and this year's festival-goers can anticipate yet more authentic French jazz, thanks to the arrival of top accordion jazz musician Richard Galliano.
Galliano's jazz is influenced by U.S. trumpet masters like Miles Davis and Clifford Brown and he also has background experience with brass instruments, having played and studied the trombone in his earliest years. Thus, in his accordion performances he stretches and alternates his tones in a way that is very similar to the musical textures of brass instruments and is applied perfectly in jazz. At the same time, Galliano has fostered a deep relationship with tango music, working with his friend, teacher and "Father of Tango" Astor Piazzolla for over 10 years.
Galliano's music fuses the romance of the French countryside, the impromptu freedom of American jazz and the beautiful tempos of Argentinian tango. It will creates vivid images in your mind, taking you on a tour of colorful scenery through three continents that doesn't require the purchase of a plane ticket. Tang Dynasty literary master Su Shi once praised poet Wang Wei as creating "pictures in poetry, poetry in pictures". This same phrase can be applied to this outstanding musician. As jazz fans will discover this month in Taichung, Galliano's music represents "pictures in music, poetry in music".
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October 2009
