Galliano

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Galliano is an acid jazz group from London, active from 1988 to 1997 and together again since 2023. They were the first to record for the label Acid Jazz, run by Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson, and then the first to sign to Peterson's new label Talkin' Loud. Robert Gallagher, who called himself Roberto Galliano, was joined by Constantine Weir and the percussionist Crispin Robinson. The trio performed spoken-word pieces influenced by the Last Poets. Michael Snaith joined when the trio became a band so that it could tour.

Music and breakthrough

The first single was Frederick Lies Still from June 1988, an adaptation of Freddie's Dead by Curtis Mayfield and also the first release on Acid Jazz. The debut album In Pursuit of the 13th Note appeared in 1991, produced by Chris Bangs, with Roy Ayers as a guest. A Joyful Noise Unto the Creator followed in 1992 and The Plot Thickens in 1994. That last album reached number eight in the UK albums chart and yielded two UK top 40 singles: Long Time Gone, a cover of David Crosby, and Twyford Down, a comment on the protests against road building. In 1994 the band played at the Glastonbury Festival, and again in 1995. In 1997 the group split up after a farewell show in Camden.

Influence

Galliano linked acid jazz with the spoken word. Valerie Etienne worked on all of their albums, and the group also had a dancer, Steve Ameedee. They belong to the British acid jazz movement of the 1990s. In 2024 they again played a sold-out show at Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1991In Pursuit of the 13th Note
• 1992A Joyful Noise Unto the Creator
• 1994The Plot Thickens
• 1996: 4
• 2024Halfway Somewhere
• 2026Acid Jazz Revenge
• 2026Unreliable Memories Of Contested Conversations

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• After Hours: Session 4^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Acid jazz GenreAround those labels bands formed that played real instruments in the spirit of the old records: The Brand New Heavies, Galliano, Young Disciples, Incognito and Jamiroquai, whose first single appeared on Acid Jazz in 1992.