This year's edition of the Malta Jazz Festival was undoubtedly the most controversial since the festival's origin some 16 years ago. Some said we are lucky to still have one, some said we are better off without one and others said it should not be called a jazz festival, let alone the Malta Jazz Festival!

Malta had built a reputation for a high standard, annual jazz festival which constantly featured big names in jazz, such as Corea, Petrucciani, Weckl, Hancock, Haden and Zawinul. As is the case with rock acts, jazz acts are also classified and these names classify with the top acts.

I attended all three sessions of this year's edition, which, unlike the previous editions unfortunately lacked top jazz acts. It is the trend nowadays for jazz festivals around the world to feature top rock and pop artists to attract more people. However having top jazz acts in such festivals is usually crucial to the reputation of the festival and its success.

Unfortunately Maltese jazz fans, at least those who attend the festival, counted fewer than 3,000 people, and therefore it is hard to make the festival financially viable to sustain high standard jazz acts. At least someone did manage for 15 years!

Although some did argue that the event was being organised at a loss, such loss could also be considered as a subsidy from the Malta Council for the Culture and the Arts to aid a prestigious event that used to put Malta on the world jazz festival calendar, which is an honour for Malta.

After this year's festival, I am concerned that for reasons of financial viability and due to the lack of 'love of Jazz' from the organisers, we shall most probably be missing the great top jazz acts that we used to have and therefore the character of the Malta Jazz Festival.