Jazz festival time limit

I can imagine how Bob Mintzer and his colleagues of The Yellowjackets felt last Friday week when he announced their last number at this year's Malta jazz festival (The Sunday Times, July 18).

To be sure, he was very diplomatic, having met him and the rest of the quartet abroad on different occasions. As true professionals they had been on call for at least one hour waiting backstage to get ready for their turn. I am also aware how the local residents feel year in year out, during these three days, and consideration should also be given to all those who paid good money for their back-breaking wooden chairs.

These legendary musicians have travelled all over the world entertaining thousands of jazz enthusiasts. Their visit to Malta this year surely has left them with a sour taste on their way to Milan for their next performance.

It is well known that the festival organisation has always left much to be desired throughout the last 14 years.

To give one example, six years ago I had a meeting with a previous culture director to whom I had offered the world famous Count Basie Big Band for the Malta venue.

He told me that the jazz festival "was not exactly his cup of tea". How right he was! He had offered me the miserly sum of Lm50 in sponsorship for a team of 24 people! Past and present government authorities have always expected everything for free and always come up with the same excuse - budget restrictions.

On the other hand it is obvious that the rnain sponsors need to get a good return for the thousands of liri they fork out for this event; that's why the festival loses lustre and prestige.

During the performance, there is the usual crowd of lager louts, standing on the separation railings, talking loudly, messing up with empty beer cans, women shaking their body dancing, annoying those who came to listen to good jazz. It's just like a village feast.

I certainly do not wish to be in the driving seat and I have the greatest respect for those involved in the organisation, who have to face facts, situations, and always bow their heads to their superiors, but surely there should be no excuses or beating about the bush with time limits and permits. The law has to be respected by one and all.

If the jazz festival is becoming a niche for the tourism market then why does it have to be held in the middle of July, with feasts on the same dates accumulating traffic delays and chaos at times on the main arteries, resulting in delays to arrive at the venue? Besides, there no adequate parking facilities are made available in Valletta for this event.

This venue should be moved to a better central outdoor place, thus avoiding a lot of unnecessary hassle. There should be two stages so that there is no interruption and waste of time between one act and the other.

Timing is important role in such events, and we are always late in starting and everything drags because of this. Proof of this is given in your report of the Friday evening performance.

Time is lost naturally because of the one-stage situation, especially as there is a piano tuning session in between gigs which takes more than 20 minutes apart from the rest of preparations. Bands should be set on explicit timings allowing one encore, but not more, as the show must go on.

Minister Francis Zammit Dimech always finds all sorts of excuses when commenting on these events and this is evidently reflected mainly because meetings are held with everyone concerned well in advance. Everyone is aware what can eventually happen and the final go-ahead is given by him, so please no excuses, Minister, just face reality.

Another sore point is that the original Website is not updated in time. Th;s was raised some weeks ago in your paper. If you want to project Malta with another prestigious event like the jzz festival on an international scale, then try to put a lot of more energy and adopt an action plan that has never existed for the last 14 years. You need people with real experience who know this sector inside out, to start with.