International jazz singer/musician David Paquette and artist Rupert Cefai will be performing next week during an event titled Spirtupront: Translating jazz into colour.

Mr Paquette will be performing on piano while Mr Cefai will be interpreting the music using paint and canvas. This will take place on three consecutive nights, between 8 and 10.30 p.m. at the Palm Court Lounge, Hotel Phoenicia, Floriana.

Mr Paquette, a regular visitor to the Maltese islands, was born in Connecticut, US and was introduced to the music of New Orleans at an early age.

Both parents had musical connections and Mr Paquette got the chance to listen to jam sessions at the family home.

With houseguests like Kid Sheik, Louis Nelson, Sammy Penn, Billie and Dede Pierce, John Handy and Kid Thomas Valentine, he was able to observe great artists at close quarters.

Since 1983, Mr Paquette has toured extensively playing several New Orleans jazz and heritage festivals and establishing himself on the European circuit. In the 1980s he travelled to New Zealand to perform and ended up settling there, for a number of years, while organising the Jazz Festival on Waiheke Island.

He still manages to tour Europe each year and in between gigs, he loves resting in his apartment in Valletta where he met Mr Cefai.

After a number of discussions between the two, they realised that what one sees in colour, the other hears in sound and music, so they decided to organise this event and experiment in transmitting the mood of their creations to each other.

The paintings produced during the sessions will remain on display at the Phoenicia Hotel for the following week.

For more information visit: http://rupertcefaiblog.blogspot.com/