Sponsored by
Music Interview: Richard Galliano
Richard Galliano
RICHARD Galliano has been described as the world’s greatest accordionist.
Born in France, of Italian stock, he began playing at the age of four; at 14 he discovered jazz music. In the last 40 years he has worked with a wide range of performers, including Charles Aznavour, Juliette Greco and Chet Baker. As a band leader, he has released 20 albums, including a homage to his friend Astor Piazzolla, the leading light of Argentinian tango.
On his latest album, the 51-year-old performs the music of Nino Rota, composer of soundtracks for some of the most famous celebrated films in Italian cinema. Next week he’s in concert in Leeds with John Surman, the saxophonist, as part of Opera North’s FILMusic season.
Nino Rota seems a composer who is very close to your heart. What first attracted you to his music?
I have always been very sensitive to the music of Nino Rota since my childhood in 1957 when I had the chance to see Fellini’s film La Strada. A masterpiece.
His themes were an integral part of the films of Fellini, Visconti and Francis Ford Coppola. Was your intention with this project to introduce them to a new audience, one that could simply appreciate them as pieces of music in their own right?
My approach is first to pay a tribute to the genius of Nino Rota. Secondly, I would like to inspire younger generations who do not know him to discover his music and trigger the desire to see the film for which he wrote the original music.
Are you ever reminded of scenes from, say, The Godfather or La Strada when you are performing these themes?
Of course, when I play the music from these films, I constantly see the pictures in my mind and I try to re-create the stories with the same atmosphere and original mood .
How did you set about finding the right group of musicians to bring this project to life?
To assemble this group of musicians I’ve tried to include not only jazz musicians that improvise, but that are also touched by the emotions and colours that all kinds of music can convey.
Although you have rearranged these songs for a jazz band, the performances seem very respectful of original material. Did you deliberately limit how much the band improvised when it was in the studio?
Yes, I did not want to let the musicians do anything wild with the music of Nino Rota. In this music the most important values are melody and emotions. Nino Rota has always defended his musical values. He was not a composer of twelve-tone or serial music, so, first of all, my concern was to not betray his memory. Not to turn this music into free jazz, for example...
You end the album with your own homage to Rota. It’s a very joyful Charleston; were you trying to capture some of his spirit in your own writing?
Yes indeed, it is a nod to the joyous music of the 30s in the Rota style – to end on a feeling that is both light, optimistic and full of joy.
You have worked with many different people throughout your career, from Juliette Greco to Wynton Marsalis, and from Charles Aznavour to Jan Gabarek. Do you think it important to be versatile?
You do not choose to be versatile. This is the result of a course without prejudice, always wanting to discover various kinds of music, different contexts, different artists. Under these circumstances, we must realise that there is just good and bad music.
Are there any other musicians that you would like to work with in future?
I am not predicting the future. I believe and trust in luck, opportunities, destiny and life.
Feb 3, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, 7.45pm, £15. Tel: 0844 848 2700. www.leedsgrandtheatre.com
DUNCAN SEAMAN
Email to a friend
Print this page- Politics: Mark Hookham's Westminster blog - 5.33pm
- Castleford RSPB Fairburn Ings: High wire act Swallows’ summer parade
- Worker dies on North Yorkshire Moors Railway
- Video: Restaurant reopens on Leeds Harry Ramsden’s site after £500,000 refit
- Chocolat author will tempt guests at Leeds Big Bookend Festival
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.