Born in Valence in the south of France in 1969, Frédéric Galliano developed a great passion for music in his teens. The young music fan quickly acquired a range of eclectic tastes, spanning everything from French chanson, Latino sounds and jazz to Kraftwerk's first electro experiments in the late 70s. Young Fred soon began to study music in earnest, learning to play piano and drums and, at the same time, acquiring practical experience of African and Middle Eastern music. Fired by a natural curiosity, Fred was soon delving into a wide range of different musical cultures. And when he later became involved with the French electro scene this gave him a radically different style from his colleagues.

Fred actually began his career as an art student, spending five years studying sculpture at the "Beaux-Arts" in Valence (1987 -1991). But he was bitten by the music bug in 1994, when he stepped in to replace a friend on the turntables of a local disco and discovered the joys of DJ-ing. With his extensive music knowledge, Fred soon went on to make a name for himself on the burgeoning French electro scene while continuing his sculpture activities in his spare time. DJ-ing regularly at bars, festivals and clubs, Fred got dancefloors grooving to his garage mix - but his tastes were too eclectic for him to stay confined to this one style for long!

Mixing on the decks with his friend and musical accomplice, DJ Spider, Galliano became something of a cult figure on the French club scene, playing at the famous "A la poursuite de la 13ème note" nights. Galliano's mixes were also much sought-after in the music world and his remixes soon began appearing on leading dance compilations such as "What's Up" (1996 and 1997) and "La Yellow Collection" (1997). Meanwhile, Galliano also began writing his own material. His compositions proved to have a strong philosophical and spiritual bent - which meant he soon developed a reputation for being a bit of a music intellectual.

In 1997 Galliano met Eric Morand, founder of the independent electro label F-Communications, who offered to bring out his debut album "Espaces baroques" (an album Galliano had been studiously working on for the previous two years). Recorded with the aid of the Belmondo brothers (Lionel on sax and Stéphane on trumpet) and Gérard Torres aka "Louis 2000" (on acoustic instruments), "Espaces baroques" was a highly innovative album which ventured into previously unexplored musical territory, experimenting with an unusual fusion of electro and jazz. In fact, Galliano ended up achieving such a perfect fusion of electro and jazz on this album that critics found it impossible to pin him down in either musical category.

"Espaces baroques" received rave reviews from the critics and this encouraged Galliano to take his music out live. He started out on the jazz circuit, performing at the Nancy Jazz Festival in 1997 where he was accompanied on stage by a quartet of jazz musicians and a dancer. In 1998 he brought the house down at the Jazz Cafe in London and then, later that same year, went on to appear at the "Jazz sous les pommiers" festival in Coutances, the "Sonar" electro festival in Barcelona and the prestigious Montreux jazz festival in Switzerland (on July 9th).

Continuing his unique fusion sound – somewhere between jazz, electro and African sounds - Galliano went on to form his own group, the "Frédéric Galliano Electronic Sextet", in 1998. The group included the Belmondo brothers (who had by this stage become increasingly present in the Galliano world) and also featured a pair of Malian singers, Koko Ouadjah and rising star Nahawa Doumbia. These artists all joined Galliano on his second album, "Live infinis" (recorded under "live" conditions in 1997 and released in 1998). "Live infinis" also featured Laurent Fickelson (on electric piano), Vincent Limouzin (on the vibraphone) and Patrick Sibille (on percussion). Music critics hailed Galliano’s vibrant second album as a masterpiece and even went so far as to invoke comparisons with Miles Davis’s legendary concerts (which were, of course, full of extraordinary improvisations).

Following the huge critical success of his albums, Galliano was increasingly sought after for his remix talent. (His most famous remixes of the time were reworkings of tracks by the Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira and English DJ Mixmaster Morris). But the project Galliano devoted most of his time and energy to after the release of his second album was the setting up of his own label Frikyiwa.

From the very start of his career Galliano had sought much of his inspiration in African music and, over the years, had come to develop a particular interest in music from Mali and Senegal. So when he decided to create his own label, it came as no surprise to find him enlisting the aid of Philippe Conrath, director of Cobalt (a French label specialising in African music). The pair went on to set up "Frikyiwa", a ‘fusion’ label which allowed Galliano to continue his work developing an Afro-electro crossover.

Galliano has made regular trips to Africa throughout his career, pursuing his work with Malian singing star Nahawa Doumbia. In fact, this has proved to be a particularly successful collaboration. Galliano has shown he knows how to respect the rhythms and melodies of Malian music and has never simply drowned Doumbia’s extraordinary vocals in a sea of electro beats. Galliano went on to give an extensive series of concerts with Nahawa Doumbia and the pair scored a big hit on the festival circuit, performing at Africolor ‘99, "Musiques métisses" 2000 and "Glaz'Art 2000". They also brought the house down when they performed in concert together at Le Savoy in Quebec in July ‘99 and then appeared there again with the Sextet in October of the same year.

In the course of his career Galliano has also collaborated with a series of other African artists including Malian guitarist Lobi Traore and Nahawa Doumbia’s daughter, Ramata Doussou Bagayoko. (Working with the pair of them, Galliano went on to record a track for Kabyle singing star Idir’s album "Identités" in 2000). One of Galliano’s other most influential encounters in Africa was with the balafon-player Neba Solo from Mali. Fusing their electro beats and African percussion into a catchy instrumental mix, Galliano and Neba Solo went on to perform a European tour together, taking their fusion sound all the way from Belgium to Slovenia.

Galliano headed off to the States in the winter of ’99, playing three dates (one in Los Angeles, one in San Francisco and one in New York). Accompanied on stage by saxophonist David Sanzay, trumpet-player Christophe Leloil, pianist Marc Chalosse, percussionist Patrick Sibille and the Malian singer Kouyate Hadja, Galliano impressed the audience with his daring improvisations at the "French Touch Festival" (held at the legendary Knitting Factory in New York). Following this success, Galliano returned to the States the following summer to take part in the "Vive la World" festival.

Continuing his work with female singers from Mali, Galliano went on to release a CD compilation on his own label in the spring of 2000. The compilation, entitled "Frikyiwa, collection 1", is the first volume of a project which will bring together a series of African divas and some of the world’s leading DJs. (Volume 2 is due out in September).

In September 2000, Galliano hit the road with the Orchestre Maquisard International, performing a series of concerts throughout France and the rest of Europe. This group featured his DJ accomplice Jeff Sharel on turntables, Hadja Kouyaté (vocals), Ali Boulo Santo (vocals/kora), Kaba Kouyaté (guitar) and Patrick Sibille (percussion). The group’s extensive tour lasted right through until the start of 2002.

Meanwhile, Galliano had already started laying plans for his next project, an album entitled "Frederic Galliano & The African Divas", released on the F-Com label in the spring of 2002. The album, mostly recorded in West Africa, brought together African singers such as Ramata Doussou, Tiguist Fékéré and Alima Touré and traditional musicians, Galliano spicing up the mix with a little electro accompaniment. Following the release of the album, Galliano and his African divas embarked upon an extensive international tour, which lasted over a year, releasing a live album together called "Sacré Live!" in April 2004.

Galliano, a committed workaholic always in search of new projects, took to dividing his time between France and Africa, where he regularly toured around with Frikyiwa’s mobile studio. He made several recordings for his label, in countries such as Chad and Equatorial Guinea, in 2006. But his biggest inspirational discovery came on a trip to the Angolan capital, Luanda, where he discovered kuduro, a hot new urban youth sound, based on a mix of electro beats and African rhythms. This led to him recording the cutting-edge compilation "Kuduro Sound System", released in November 2006, featuring up-and-coming local kuduro stars. Galliano also released albums for three Angolan artists, Paulo Flores, Dog Murras and Manya and subsequently brought them on tour to Europe.

November 2006