A "perfect blend" of popular acts and jazz purists will feature at this year's Malta Jazz Festival, according to artistic director Sandro Zammit.

The main highlights this year will be world-class guitarist Al di Meola and drummer Terri Lynne Carrington, whose album Mosaic Project has just won a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album.

The three-day festival, which organisers hope will attract more than 1,500 people each night, will be held between July 19 and 21 at Ta' Liesse in Valletta.

On the first evening of the festival, Al di Meola will return to Malta with a performance which will feature virtuoso pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who has eight Grammy nominations under his belt. The night will also feature the Jeremy Pelt Quartet and the local trio of Paul Giordimaina.

The next day will see the Tigran Hamasyan Trio, which finds inspiration from traditional Armenian folk music and Terri Lynne Carrington who will feature top jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves as a special guest.

The festival will close with a fusion of flamenco and jazz by Chano Dominguez as well as the Will Vinson Quartet, very popular on the New York jazz scene. Local acts Carlo Muscat and Alex Bezzina will also perform on the night.

The line-up was announced this afternoon by Mr Zammit in a press conference also addressed by the chairman of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts Adrian Mamo and Culture Minister Mario de Marco.

At the start of the press conference, Dr de Marco paid tribute to the late Fr Peter Serracino Inglott, saying he inspired a generation of intellectuals and artists throughout his life.

Mr Mamo thanked the sponsors making the event possible and said this year's event would be marketed in the UK, Italy and Germany.

Mr Zammit said other jazz festivals around the world were either losing their artistic integrity by focusing on pop acts for mass appeal or else being too restrictive towards purist jazz. On the other hand, the Malta Jazz Festival achieved a "perfect blend" each night, in the hope that festival goers will be introduced to familiar acts as well as cutting-edge jazz.

A series of events will be held in the days before and after the festival around Valletta, which will include master classes, more intimate gigs and other activities, coordinated by Andrew Alamango.