photo by Mariana Reyes

Colombian pianist and composer Ricardo Gallo has written for acoustic and electro-acoustic formats, for short films, videos, dance, installations, and multimedia stage productions, and has performed and written for jazz and improvisatory groups. He has published fourteen albums as a leader or co-leader. Gallo has received commissions from the Colombia National Symphony Orchestra, Big Band Bogotá, and contemporary ensembles in New York and Bogotá. His current projects as a performer/composer include his Bogotá-based quartet, which has released six albums. Currently in New York, he leads the tropical-electric band Los ALiENs releasing the LP Odd Subjects in 2022 with Juga Music.

Two notable duos are his long-lasting project with guitarist Alejandro Flórez and with singer Juanita Delgado. Since 2016 Gallo has collaborated with Chilean poet and artist Cecilia Vicuña, performing as a duo in the U.S., Chile, and Colombia. For Vicuña’s Brain Forest Quipu, her commission for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London in 2022, Gallo directed the contribution of several musicians and arranged and designed the sonic component of the piece. In 2018 he created the sound design for Cecilia’s Disappeared Quipu, a multimedia installation for the Brooklyn Museum and MFA in Boston. They released the album "La niebla vital, Wiraqochan" in 2022 with Hueso Records.

In New York, he led the group Tierra de Nadie, with trombonist Ray Anderson, saxophonist Dan Blake, bassist Mark Helias, and percussionists Pheeroan akLaff and Satoshi Takeishi releasing the album The Great Fine Line in 2010 under Clean Feed Records. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas and a master's and Ph.D. in music composition from Stony Brook University. He maintains a strong connection with Bogotá's music scene and is currently based in New York.

www.ricardogallo.com IG: @bluegallo_keys YT: @bluegallo X: @bluegallo