Ricardo Gallo, a Colombian composer and pianist, has released five albums. His projects relate Colombian traditional music to modern musical expressions. He also performs with improvisational groups. His primary projects include his quartet, which he has led since 2004 in Bogota. It includes some of Colombia’s finest musicians: Juan Manuel Toro as bassist, Juan Sepulveda as drummer, and Juan David Castano as percussionist. He has created original compositions with them and an improvising style that combines an avant-garde, free language and rhythmic and melodic elements of Colombian traditions. Ricardo Gallo Cuarteto released three albums, “Los Cerros Testigos”, “Urdimbres y Maranas”, and “Resistencias”, all to great critical acclaim in Colombia and abroad. These albums were published under the catalog of musician’s collective La Distritofonica, from Bogota. He is the leader of Tierra de Nadie in New York, where he has been since 2007. It includes musicians like Ray Anderson, saxophonist Dan Blake and Mark Helias. The quintet/sextet plays compositions that are based on imaginary folklore and allow musicians to freely inhabit the space. He released the album “The Great Fine Line” with this group in November 2010, under the portuguese Clean Feed Records. The album “Meleyolamente”, which he released as a leader, was also released under the Colombian label Festina Lente Discos (April 2009). His music has also been published on several compilations in Colombia, USA and Europe. He has also collaborated with many groups, including Pacho Davila and Citizens of the World and Asdrubal. His music has been performed in Peru, Puerto Rico and Canada as well as in Chile, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Spain and Chile. He also performed in several U.S.A. cities (The Stone and Blue Note, Joe’s Pub and Museo del Barrio and Cornelia Street Cafe and Issue Project Room), at festivals in Colombia like Barranquijazz and Jazz Festival at Manizales and Jazz al Parque, Bogota and at most of the major venues and theaters. He has performed his music in New York in many formats, including with the following musicians: Tony Malaby (Joe), Jorge Roeder (Tony Malaby), Sam Sadigursky (Juicy Festival at Teatro Libre), Martin Vejarano, Pedro Giraudo, and others. Ray Anderson has led him in various groups. He also performed with the Peter Evans Quartet in New York, Portugal, and Austria. This recording is available on Clean Feed Records (2010). He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of North Texas. There, he was named “Outstanding Composition student”. He is a Stony Brook University graduate with a Masters and a PhD in music composition. from http://www.ricardogallo.com
