http://www.richardgalliano.com/anglais/english.htm
http://www.myspace.com/rgalliano

Richard Galliano changed the history of the accordion: today we can speak of "before" and "after" Galliano."
(Yasuhiro Kobayashi - Japanese accordionist, Björk's accompanist).

Richard Galliano has succeeded, through his musical emphasis on melody, rhythm, and harmony, in imposing his instrument in musical contexts that previously ignored it - jazz festivals in Marciac, Vienne, Montréal, etc. and classical concert halls in Rome, Paris, Milan, etc .

Richard Galliano was drawn to music at an early age, starting with the accordion at 4, influenced by his father Lucien, 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 on records the great 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 parallel with this musical apprenticeship Richard Galliano took part in international accordion competitions. Playing J.S. Bach, Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Gershwin, he won first prize in the accordion "World Cup" two years in a row (1966, Valence, Spain and 1967, Calais, France) as well as the President's Prize in 1968 (under President Charles de Gaulle).

In 1983 Astor Piazzolla invited Richard Galliano to be the bandoneon soloist at the Comédie Française in his original music to accompany William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It was the beginning of a long friendship between the two men that lasted until Piazzolla's death in 1992.

Since 1980 Richard Galliano has been sharing the stage with great musicians in concerts all over the world (Paris, New York, Moscow, London, Buenos Aires, Montréal, San Francisco, Istanbul, etc.). He played with : Chet BAKER,  Charlie HADEN, Jan LUNDGREN, Enrico RAVA,  Joe ZAWINUL, Michel PETRUCCIANI, Jan GARBAREK, Michel PORTAL, Birèli LAGRENE,  Philip CATHERINE, Stefano BOLLANI,  Paolo FRESU, Toots THIELEMANS, Bobby MC FERRIN and many others.

In 2002, for the Down Beat Poll, Richard Galliano was awarded first of "New Generation" in the category "Miscellaneous Instruments".  He has never worried about being the world' s best accordionist but rather has always been concerned with giving his audience the very best of himself, of "playing the music of his world", and of delving into his diverse musical roots - Italian, Mediterranean, jazz, French chanson, and classical music.

Richard Galliano has inspired the entire new generation of international accordionists. Today many young musicians to play his music and "copy" his style (the are more than 50 versions of his "Valse à Margaux"). In addition some of his former students have embarked on interesting and rich musical careers, including Peer Glovingen (with Gidon Kremer) and Daniel Mille.

Eugene Pao, guitars
http://eugenepao.com/
http://www.myspace.com/eugenepao

Eugene Pao, a guitarist extraordinaire, is one of Asia's top jazz musicians. His fretboard artistry has earned him praise and respect from dozens of international jazz greats he has played with in recent years. Born in Hong Kong, Pao spent more than a decade in Seattle at school and college, all the while absorbing music.

Upon his return to Hong Kong, Pao's passion and commitment to music grew and is now total. He worked fulltime at various jazz clubs and one of his early recording projects is an album with bass legend Eddie Gomez in and acoustic setting called Chance Encounters in 1986. In 1987 he performed with Japanese guitar superstar Kazumi Watanabe in Tokyo and Hong Kong as a featured artist in that year's "Live Under Sky" jazz festival. In 1990 he performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival, one of the premiere showcases for international jazz virtuosos, and in the same year he released a CD called Outlet featuring Michael Brecker on saxophone. In 1991, he released a CD with blues legend singer, Jimmy Witherspoon, called Spoon Meets Pao which showcases Eugene's blues playing. In 1992, Pao appeared on sax great Ernie Watts' album called Stand Up. Also in the same year be began hosting his own popular radio programme called "The Jazz Show" in Hong Kong.

Later that year, Japanese trumpet legend Terumasa Hino asked him to join his Asian All Star Band featuring jazz musician from different Asian countries. They have since toured all over Asia, Canada and have performed in Chicago and New York. In October 1994 he made his breakthrough by recording in New York, with Jack Dejohnette on drums, John Patitucci on acoustic bass and Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone. This CD was entitled By The Company You Keep and released in 1996.

Later that year Pao appeared with Terumasa Hino's Asian All Star Band at the prestigious Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival. In 1998, he participated in a group project and recorded a CD called Hong Kong Jazz Quartet. His second solo album, This Window, was released in 1999. An accomplished composer as well as a soloist, Pao has gained widespread acclaim also for the music he has written for film soundtracks and television commercials. Being a busy session player, he has arranged and played on numerous projects for local pop artists. He performs regularly in jazz clubs, jazz festivals and concerts. Some of the jazz greats he has played live with include vocal legends Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Witherspoon, trombonist Ray Anderson and Art Baron, trumpeter legend Red Rodney and Terumasa Hino, pianist John Taylor and sax greats James Moody, Tommy Smith and George Young.

----Graham Earnshaw, Reuters

Richard Galliano改變了手風琴的歷史：現在我們可以說有「前Galliano」和「後Galliano」時代
﹝小林靖宏，日本手風琴家，曾替Björk伴奏﹞

Richard Galliano的音樂著重旋律、節奏及和弦，他成功將手風琴帶到新的音樂領域─法國Marciac、法國維也納及蒙特利爾的爵士音樂節，還有羅馬、巴黎和米蘭等地的古典音樂演奏會。

父親來自意大利現定居法國尼斯(Nice) 的Richard Galliano，很年輕的時候已經接觸音樂，他四歲時已經開始學習手風琴，並且受到身為手風琴家的父親Lucien Galliano 的影響。

經過長期精深的音樂研習之後(Richard Galliano先後在尼斯音樂學院(Academy of Music in Nice) 學習長號、和音及對位法等理論)，在十四歲時，Richard Galliano為了探索手風琴演奏的更多可能性，他開始聆聽爵士樂，當中他特別鍾愛小號大師Clifford Brown 的作品，他從聆聽Clifford Brown的唱片中模仿及學習他的每一種演奏技巧，他曾說：「我模仿了Clifford Brown所有的疊句 (Choruses)，同時也被他的演奏音色和魄力所吸引，Clifford Brown與 Max Roach 一起演奏時的phrasing更令他印象難忘。 」

沈醉於爵士樂這新天地的Richard Galliano，認為手風琴未能成為爵士樂探險歷程的一部份實在令他感到驚訝。

Richard Galliano學習音樂期間參加了不少國際性的手風琴比賽。他彈奏巴哈、柴可夫斯基、拉威爾和格什溫的作品，一九六六和一九六七年連續兩年分別在西班牙華倫西亞和法國加萊贏得手風琴世界盃冠軍，一九六八年於戴高樂任法國總統期間贏得總統獎。

一九八三年，Astor Piazzolla邀請Richard Galliano為在法蘭西喜劇院上演的「仲夏夜之夢」擔任班多紐手風琴獨奏，彈奏Piazzolla的原創作品。由此展開了二人長久的友誼，至一九九二年Piazzolla逝世為止。

一九八零年開始，Richard Galliano於世界各地﹝巴黎、紐約、莫斯科、倫敦、布宜諾斯艾利斯、蒙特利爾、三藩市、伊斯坦堡等﹞舞台與多名偉大的樂手同台演出。曾合作過的包括：Chet Baker、Charlie Haden、Jan Lundgren、Enrico Rava、Joe Zawinul、Michel Petrucciani、Jan Garbarek、Michel Portal、Bireli Lagrene、Philip Catherine、Stefano Bollani、Paolo Fresu、Toots Thielemans、Bobby McFerrin等。

二零零二年，在Down Beat的投票中，Richard Galliano在「其他樂器」組別中被選為「新世代」的第一位。Galliano從不擔心自己是否世上最佳手風琴家，他只著重將最好的帶給樂迷，要「玩屬於自己世界的音樂」，從他廣泛的音樂背景中探索和鑽研。Galliano的音樂根源涵蓋意大利、地中海、爵士樂、法國歌謠和古典音樂等多個範疇。

Richard Galliano啟發了整整一個世代，世界各地的手風琴手。現時很多年輕樂手都有玩他的音樂，模仿他的風格﹝他的Valse à Margaux有超過五十個版本﹞。他的部分學生亦開展了有趣和豐富的音樂事業，當中包括Peer Glovingen﹝與Gidon Kremer合作﹞和Daniel Mille。

包以正，結他
http://eugenepao.com/
http://www.myspace.com/eugenepao

包以正是一位非凡的結他手，也是亞洲頂尖的音樂家之一。包以正的超卓結他技藝嬴得所有與他合作過的爵士樂大師的讚賞。生於香港的包以正，在美國西雅圖留學超過十年，同時不斷吸收音樂的養份。

自從回歸香港後，包以正對於音樂的熱情及投入與日俱增，今天他已全情投入，他曾在不同的爵士樂俱樂部全職工作，其中一個早期的唱片錄音Chance Encounters是在一九八六年與低音提琴大師Eddie Gomez 合作，在一九八七年名為Live Under Sky爵士樂節中，他被邀在東京與香港作為演出嘉賓，在一九九O年他參與國際最重要的爵士樂舞台之一的Montreal Jazz Festival，同年推出名為Outlet的唱片，當中Michael Brecker 擔任薩克斯手，在一九九一年他推出另外一張唱片名為Spoon Meets Pao ，與藍調歌手Jimmy Witherspoon 合作演出藍調音樂，在一九九二年包以正被邀在薩克斯大師Ernie Watts 的唱片Stand Up 中演出，同年他在香港開始主持廣受歡迎的電台節目名為The Jazz Show。

同年之後，日本的小號大師Terumasa Hino (日野皓正) 邀請包以正加入由亞洲各國爵士樂手組成的Asian All Star Band，樂隊曾經在亞洲各地、加拿大、芝加哥和紐約演出，在一九九四年十月他在紐約作出突破性的錄音，分別由Jack Dejohnette 擔任鼓手，John Patitucci 擔任低音樂手，Michael Brecker 擔任中音薩克斯手，此唱片名為 By The Company You Keep，在一九九六年推出。

同年之後，包以正與Terumasa Hino (日野皓正) 的 Asian All Star Band 在著名的富士山爵士樂節 (Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival) 演出，在一九九八年他參與一次團隊錄音名為Hong Kong Jazz Quartet 的唱片，他的第二張個人唱片This Window 在一九九九年推出，作為一位成功的作曲家及演奏家，包以正為電影及電視創作的音樂作品廣獲好評，此外他也為本港多位流行歌星作伴奏及編曲，他經常在爵士樂俱樂部、爵士樂節及音樂會中演出，當中與他同場演出過的爵士樂巨星分別有著名歌星Jon Hendricks、Jimmy Witherspoon，長號手Ray Anderson及Art Baron，小號大師Red Rodney 及 Terumasa Hino，鋼琴家John Taylor 及 薩克斯大師James Moody、Tommy Smith及George Young。