Galliano Plus Guests

Galliano play Chalk on Sunday 2 May, billed as an 'Acid Jazz Legend' and performing with guests. It's a Brighton date presented by Horizon Promotions, and it marks a return to the stage that's been nearly three decades in the making.

To get why that gap matters, you have to go back to how Galliano started. The band was built on sampling and found material, drawing from the clubs, radio shows, bands and scenes of the 1980s — the kind of sound that helped define the acid jazz era. They stopped in 1997, and for a long time, that was the end of the story. But in August 2024, a double album called Halfway Somewhere brought them back to recording and gigging, some thirty years after they'd called it a day. This Brighton show is part of that return.

On the night, Galliano will be joined by guests, so it's not just the band on their own. The set will draw from the new material and the older records, and the billing as an acid jazz legend gives you a fair idea of the territory they're working in — that blend of jazz, funk and dance music that they were so central to in the first place. With Halfway Somewhere as the recent catalyst, the show is as much about where they've come from as what they've been up to since.

The gig runs from 18:30 to 22:00, with doors opening at 18:30, so you can get in early and settle in before things kick off. Chalk is at 13 Pool Valley, Brighton, BN1 1NJ.