This year’s Malta Jazz Festival will feature no fewer than three local acts, one on each night of this prestigious international annual event.

On the opening night, vocalist Nadine Axisa, along with her band, namely Marvin Gaerty on guitar, Harry Eddleston on piano, Matteo Bortone on bass, Joe Micallef on drums and Adrian Galea on percussion, will kick off the festival with a set leaning mainly on Latin jazz standards with a hint of swing and jazz ballads.

An established singer with many years of experience, Axisa has taken jazz vocal courses with established singers Tina May and Iain Mackenzie as well as Argentinian artist Guillermo Rozenthuler. She performs regularly on the local circuit and has also performed in various countries.

In 2003, she collaborated with other local musicians on The Beatles Works, a tribute album and concert to the Fab Four’s songbook, rearranged in a jazzy style.

The Argotti Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mro Dominic Galea, will be the opening act on Friday night. Featuring Mario Borg on alto sax, Carlo Muscat on tenor sax, Adrian ‘ir-Russu’ Brincat on trumpet, Effie Azzopardi on the flugelhorn, Mario ‘Cocker’ Aquilina on bass, Benedict Galea on the drums and guest vocalists Doreen Galea and Claudette Pace, the idea to form this collective came about last year, following a string of successful jazz workshops conducted by jazz pianist and composer Dominic Galea.

This will be the first public performance for the Argotti Jazz Ensemble; a set list of specially-selected jazz standards along with an original number that will offer the audience the same stimulating vibe that fuelled the band’s weekly rehearsals in the run-up to this debut performance.

The Marc Galea Quintet, also featuring Mro Paul Abela on piano, bassist Alan Portelli, Robin Nicasie on saxophone and Joe ‘Bibi’ Camilleri on drums, will be the first act on the festival’s closing night.

A qualified guitarist and tutor, Galea, who has worked and shared the stage with the likes of Luigi Tessarollo, Phil Hilborne, Gordon Giltrap and Claudio Baglioni, released his debut album, Easy Dialogue, earlier this year.

The Malta Jazz Festival starts on Thursday and ends next Sunday. For more information, log on to www.maltajazzfestival.org.