Anyone who has ever seen and heard the Frenchman Richard Galliano play the accordion probably thought inadvertently: well, he must have started at a really young age. A correct assumption, because the young Galliano was only four years old when he was first almost hidden from sight by the accordion. It's obvious who he got that musicality from: his father, an accordionist who had moved from Italy to France, was also a born musician. When Richard Galliano was only 14, he had already completed an intensive study - trombone, harmony and counterpoint - at the Nice academy of music. To broaden his musical horizons, he started listening to jazz. The inquisitive teenager was especially bowled over by the performances of trumpet player Clifford Brown, whipped up by drummer Max Roach. Galliano wondered why the accordion had never been a part of this musical adventure. Galliano has devoted the rest of his life, up until today, to the mission of turning the accordion into a jazz instrument. He received a lot of support from the Argentinean master Astor Piazzolla, who advised Galliano not to renounce his French roots. In the same way Piazzolla had invented the Tango Nuevo, Galliano had to search for the Nouvelle Musette. And he succeeded. Until Piazzolla's death in 1992, the two men remained close friends. With the concert Piazzolla For Ever, Galliano is celebrating not only their friendship, but also the 10th anniversary of Piazzolla's death and his 80th birthday.
