Crossover jazz for festival

Having read, with great interest, the article (September 23) about the festival going back to pure jazz, I would agree with NnG promotions that the Maltese audience base is too limited to have a pure jazz festival, but maybe the introduction of rock was an extreme solution for a Maltese audience!

Having said this, rock music in jazz festivals is nothing new; British hard rock band Deep Purple performed several times and were again included in the 2009 Montreux Jazz Festival.

From the very positive feedback I got a couple of years ago, during and after presenting JazzWaves, a smooth jazz 18-week music show on one of the local radio stations, I would suggest to go easy on artistes performing "abstract, heavy, traditional" jazz.

I really do not want to stir 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.

Smooth jazz relies on layers of synthesisers, light-funk rhythms, light-funk bass, elastic guitars, trumpets, alto or soprano saxophones.

Perhaps the two most popular artistes to the Maltese audience would be 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) to bands like Acoustic Alchemy, Spyro Gyra, and The Rippingtons for instrumentals are among an endless list. Another more recent very popular artiste who is categorised as contemporary and vocal jazz is Michael Buble. 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.