It was jazz that first took me to Malta and it was jazz that was bringing me back once more. This was for the 35th edition of the Malta Jazz Festival set in the vibrant capital of Valletta under the musical stewardship of Sandro Zerafa the Artistic Director who has been curating the festival for the past 16 years. With an interesting mix of international musicians and local Maltese talent, Sandro makes sure the festival never compromises on its content, achieving a good balance between the pure jazz element and the more popular aspects of the music and this year was no exception.
A series of evening concerts in Valetta’s City Theatre opened on Tuesday 8 July with the renowned Cuban drummer and percussionist Lukmil Perez and his quartet followed on the next day by the Franck Amsallem trio, led by the French American pianist and composer and Thursday night saw New York based singer/songwriter Rebecca Martin with double bassist Larry Grenadier and saxophonist Bill McHenry.
Afterwards were some well supported late night sessions down at Joe Debono’s intimate Offbeat jazz club in Merchant Street hosted by American pianist Richard Sears, with Matteo Bortone on bass, Jesus Vaga on drums plus some intricate guitar work from Sandro Zarafa, (check out his recent double album, Limestone/Mostly Slow Tunes) followed by even later jam sessions.
The festival’s grand finale took place on the evenings of the 11 and 12 of July down by the atmospheric waterside setting of Quarry Wharf, Ta’ Liesse. It seemed serendipity that the opening act from Maltese pianist Paul Giordimaina’s SFERA on the Friday included numbers from their album ‘Gatt Groove’, dedicated to the memory of the late Maltese drummer Charles ‘City’ Gatt who started the Jazz Festival back in 1991.
SFERA’s lineup (pictured above) included Oliver Dagabriele on bass, and Guze Camilleri on drums augmented with guests Alex Bezina on trumpet and flugelhorn and Rino Cirinna on saxophone. Giordimaina’s improvisational flourishes stood out on ‘Dark Before Midnight’, supported by Dagabriele’s driving bass and Bezzina’s melodic flugelhorn. Additional highlights included ‘Josimina’ and ‘Blues For BibI’ showcasing Cirinna’s swinging saxophone.
Next to take the stage were the New York based Peter Bernstein Quartet with guitarist Bernstein’s soulful blues influenced jazz somewhat reminiscent of an early John Scofield. With pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Bill Stewart holding down a nice tight beat on original numbers such as ‘Simple As That’ and ‘Dragonfly’, with Bernstein performing a wonderfully lyrical interpretation of Cole Porter’s ‘Love For Sale’, the guitarist finishing with a nice bluesy twist.
The last performance of the evening featured the innovative vocalist and composer Michael Mayo (above), whose unique style pushes boundaries, his voice often sounding like a musical instrument. The opening number, ‘Bag of Bones’, soared and swooped out across the delighted audience, his extraordinary vocal range referencing the great acapella vocalist Bobby McFerrin. A fine set included ‘Just Friends’, ‘It Will Be Fine’ and a Miles Davis tune, ‘I Fall In Love Too Easily’, the concert drawing on both the 2021 album Bones and his latest, Fly, which Michael explained was conceived in October 1923, recorded in January 2024 and released in October of the same year in a swiftness that echoed the title!
Saturday 12 July and the stage is set for the final day of the festival as we wait in anticipation to welcome Jonathan Blake (above), one of the most accomplished drummers and composers of his generation, here performing music from My Life Matters, his new music suite written to focus on the importance of family and social values. The highly appreciative audience is transfixed as Blake and his band take off, the music’s swirling rhythms seeming to take on an intense rite of passage of their own. Behind the leader’s tour de force drumming, we enjoyed Fabian Almazan’s probing piano, Dezron Douglas’s double and electric bass grooves, Dayna Stephen’s buoyant saxophone and some virtuosic vibraphone playing from Jalen Baker.
After the show I asked Jonathan Blake how he viewed the title of ‘Ultimate Modernist’. “I see this as having one foot in the past and one foot in the future, drawing inspiration from both. The inspiration behind My Life Matters came from realising some of the uncomfortable conversations that needed to be had to realise that we need to get back to the basics of life, the fact that we are all from all one human race and music has that way of bringing this all together” Blake explains.