Fiona Galea Debono
Festival going back to pure jazz
The council is planning to pour the jazz back into the mix.
The annual Malta Rock and Jazz Festival is losing the "rock" once again - in the hope of winning back jazz aficionados and returning to its roots.
The three-year contract with NnG Promotions, which turned the festival into a more rock-oriented event, has ended and is not being renewed, said the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.
As the original organiser, it is stepping back into its previous role and taking the jazz feast under its wing, hoping to recuperate what it has "lost" over the last three summers.
The first elements that are destined to change are the name and the venue - the Malta International Jazz Festival and the Ta' Liesse location are making a comeback, MCCA executive director Davinia Galea told The Times.
The name change is due to the focus on jazz once again, while the return to the original venue, a stone's throw from the Valletta Waterfront, where it was held over the past three years, should rekindle a sense of "nostalgia" for the first 15 editions.
Another move would be to bring over top names in the jazz world, and up-and-coming musicians, which was what the original festival, recognised on an international level, was renowned for, Ms Galea said. Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Diana Krall, for example, came to Malta to perform at the event before she made it big, she pointed out.
The festival was farmed out three years ago in keeping with the council's plan to "cautiously" shed events - organising them is not its remit, Ms Galea said. NnG Promotions, renowned for having put up some of the island's top mega concerts, took over its "leftover baggage".
However, three years down the line, it was an "experience that did not work out" and the council does not plan to farm out the festival next summer.
But asked if he would have been willing to continue organising it after the contract expired, NnG's Nigel Camilleri said: "Not unless the conditions we were working under would have changed!"
Over the last three years, the festival had been a financial loss and, although he had no regrets, NnG had got nothing out of it from the commercial point of view; they had only benefitted from the PR aspect, he said, pointing out that the government had not funded anything.
Having said that, prior to the farming out of the festival, it had been a loss-making venture too, and the government was planning to put a stop to it, Dr Camilleri said. Among the problems NnG had encountered was the fact that the date was fixed, and also that the MCCA never included it in its Summer Arts Festival progamme and promoted it. "As it was, it was never going to work and it will never make a profit," he said.
NnG aimed to resuscitate the festival by broadening its musical horizons with an injection of mainstream sounds, showcasing the likes of Zucchero, The Blues Brothers and The Alan Parsons Project. But jazz purists could not stomach it and the public's reactions to the changes were not positive.
The council is, therefore, planning to pour the jazz back into the mix - a frequent complaint when the formula had changed - and attract the jazz audience that had snubbed the event.
"We need to build up the trust between the organiser and the audience, which has been lost; the recognition of what the festival stands for, to have a repeat audience that will continue to grow," Ms Galea said.
The original all-jazz festival had its shortcomings too, and Ms Galea said its organisation and logistics needed to be looked into. As part of the audience at the time, she did not approve of the many hot dog stands and the stench of food, for example, saying "it was not about that".
Working for a profit, as NnG did, is not easy in the arts, Ms Galea maintained. "If you can guarantee massive audiences, then it works, but if you cannot, you have to look for money from government subsidies and private sponsorships. You have to know the product and research it; you have to know how vast the audience can be. The festival could be a profit-making field of art, but it has to be developed and nurtured.
The entrepreneurial aspect is important, but you have to know what you are working with," Ms Galea maintained.
Immediate profit was hard to come by in an event of the sort, but the council was a non-profit-making organisation and would be looking long term, she said.
The 19th edition of the Malta International Jazz Festival is scheduled for the third weekend of July - a fixed date on the country's cultural calendar - during the Malta Arts Festival, but the council has not yet started working on the ingredients.
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joseph agius
Sep 29th 2008, 18:32
i would not say that the montreux jazz festival is the mother of jazz festivals - it used to be a good festival up to the 80's after which it became a melange of sorts. what Nazareth and Deep Purple have got to do with jazz is beyond me - it's ok to attract a wide audience but not at the price of selling out. the Malta Jazz Festival used to be a small festival which was making waves internationally until Nng decided to take it over and produced the charade of which we all know about. a festival makes it to the international jazz circuit when the line up provokes interest and it attracts the attention of jazz publications, mr. curmi
Jazz never attracts huge audiences unless someone like keith jarrett is playing. a big
audience for jazz is different from a big audience for rock. i'm still against organising something half baked but it's up to the new organizers to decide - hopefully it would be something along the lines of the past (not the last 3) editiions.
benjamin Curmi
Sep 28th 2008, 21:07
I, personally, am not a fan of Kenny G, but purely mentioned him as example of what is considered as "smooth jazz".
What "international jazz circuit" is Mr. Agius referring to?
If, only a handful of foreigners come here specifically for the festival. Music lovers from mainland Europe would surely prefer Montreax Jazz Festival (on its 43rd year now), a 15-day music celebration of various genres of music! Bands like Deep Purple (hard rock), Madness (ska), Nazareth (hard rock) Roberta Flack (R&B/soul) and The Rippingtons (smooth jazz) have performed there. Why is it that we Maltese want to be holier then the Pope himself?
Do we actually want our festival to attract a minority of “pure” jazz lovers? Would we rather have Ta' Liesse half full every night, if? Or perhaps we prefer the festival to be a social event where we can have a couple of beers, a burger and a chit chat with friends other than listen to music?!
My personal view is that the festival should attract the Maltese first, and with a balance of "free/pure/traditional jazz" (call it what you may) and "softer, smoother jazz" this could be a possibility.
Alan Vella
Sep 26th 2008, 17:54
This is great news.
@the author of this article: What the hell is "pure jazz"???
@B. Curmi: Kenny G??? you must be joking.
joseph agius
Sep 26th 2008, 15:28
It's exactly the names that mr. Curmi suggested that would keep me away from the jazz festival - Kenny G isn't jazz, he produces just corny restaurant background music while the other names he suggested wouldn't put back the festival on the international jazz circuit. Big names like Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Gerry Hemingway, David S. Ware and Charles Gayle would get the festival noticed internationally and it would regain its historic prestige which was heavily tarnished these couple of years. After all, the Malta Jazz Festival is about jazz - any half baked effort to include saccharine acts like the ones mr. Curmi suggested would be an utter waste of time!!
Benjamin Curmi
Sep 25th 2008, 11:30
From the very positive feed back I got a couple of years ago, during
and after presenting "JazzWaves" a "smooth jazz" music radio show, I would suggest to go easy on artistes performing "abstract, heavy, traditional" jazz.
I really do not want to steer controversy with the "pure" jazz
aficionados but the introduction of new genres of jazz, the likes of
crossover jazz, acid jazz, jazz-pop, contemporary to the mix, would
create a fine balance and also attract audiences who enjoy a limited
amount of improvisation together with rhythmic grooves, fusion and
rock influences.
Known names are George Benson (guitarist/vocalist) and Kenny G (saxophonist). Other
examples of crossover range from Al Jarreau (vocalist), Kirk Whalum
(saxophonist), Peter White (guitarist), Alexander Zonjic (flutist) and
bands like Acoustic Alchemy, Spyro Gyra, and The Rippingtons for
instrumentals amongst an endless list. Another more recent very
popular artiste who is categorized as contemporary and vocal jazz is
Michael Bublé. All contain the influence of jazz but tend to fall as
much (if not more) into the pop field.
Looking forward to next year's Malta International Jazz Festival, good
luck to the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.
Benjamin Curmi
bjc.mlt@hotmail.com
St. Paul's Bay
Joseph Agius
Sep 23rd 2008, 22:04
it's great news that the Jazz Festival is back - hopefully Nng productions won't be responsible for the organization - Jazz isn't about making a quick buck and i have serious doubts about their ability to organize a decent festival. The Malta Jazz Festival has a prestigious history having hosted such greats as Herbie Hancock, Paul Bley, Carla Bley, John Zorn and Paul Motian. It will certainly be a tough act to follow but not an impossible one.
Mark Attard
Sep 23rd 2008, 14:51
I truly hope that like most other cultural events, the true jazz festival would not have to be "commercially viable" to be sustained. I think that being put back into the international jazz calendar, and renowned for it, is rewarding enough already.
philip pace
Sep 23rd 2008, 13:24
From the onset, it was going to be something that would never work out, as in Malta there are two opposing markets, the rock against jazz syndrome. It could never work out!
Unfortunately instead of asking around and taking good advise it was allowed to happen.
Thankfully it has come to an end.
I knew all about this since the 1980s but nobody bothered to check it out. It was just a money making venture which sadly started to collapse in it's infancy as to the lack of experience and know how plus finances.
I appreciate the fact that NrG brought in such great acts ( very commendable) but it could not be sustainable from profit and loss side as one needs a large amount of financial sponsorship to work with.
Back in the 80s, a young businessman told me about bringing in PINK FLOYD. I replied that he should do it but he was going to spend all of his life paying for the losses. He appreciated that.
One has to be very careful in this market as there are a lot of wicked turns that come unexpectedly.
Maybe I have the solution re-cultural rock side of this nation.
Marion Neckermann
Sep 23rd 2008, 13:11
That's great news indeed - back to the roots for the Malta Jazz Festival!
As frequent visitors of Malta for the past 18 years now and lovers of the original Malta Jazz Festival we were more than disappointed about the line up of the past 3 events. But now there is something to look forward to for next summer - for sure we will be back again to Malta in July 2009 latest, for the next "real" Jazz Festival to come! Looking forward to be back to Ta' Liesse as well.
Prosit for this decision, Ms Galea!