Tierra de Nadie

Ricardo Gallo’s “Tierra de Nadie” performs original music conceived as a sort of imaginary musical folklore, a “No man’s land” which is the intriguing basis for exploratory improvisations. The group is a quintet/sextet featuring saxophonist Dan Blake, trombonist Ray Anderson, bassist Mark Helias, and drummers Pheeroan akLaff and/or Satoshi Takeishi. The compositions picture a landscape of its own, providing a space in which contributing musicians can inhabit freely and also, that is devoid of flags.
Its debut recording titled “The Great Fine Line” was released in November 2010 by Clean Feed Records (CF 209).

This group has performed in New York in venues such as The Stone, The Blue Note, Joe’s Pub, Cornelia Street Cafe, Drom, Museo del Barrio, among others.

 ”While everyone is accorded solo space, this is genuine ensemble music, with the arrangements for Gallo’s original compositions emphasizing alert interplay, multi-linear improvisation and rapid shifts in density and tone.”
Writes Peter Margasak for Downbeat.

“Gallo has assembled a first-rate band and given it plenty with which to work”
Stuart Broomer for NYC Jazz Record

“Blake and Anderson’s animated call-and-response, the rhythm section’s roiling undercurrent and Gallo’s harmonious inventions gracefully integrate boisterous Dixieland licks, Latin American polyrhythms and regal formalism into a beguiling cross-cultural fusion that defies simple categorization.”
Troy Collins for Point of Departure

Discography