Charles Gatt

The first Maltese act at this year’s Malta Jazz Festival is the Vibraphone Quintet led by none other than Charles ‘City’ Gatt, who was the festival’s musical director for 15 years.

An avid painter, as well as a talented and respected musician, Gatt’s passion for jazz is such that his name is synonymous with the genre locally. He studied at Berklee College of Music, furthering his studies with Joe Hunt, Mike Metheny and Andy Jaffe.

Apart from playing at the Berklee Performance centre, he was also a regular percussionist with Boston’s Melrose Symphony Orchestra. He has released the solo album Ritual Meditations, featuring percussion music composed by Charles Camilleri, and has also performed and given master classes abroad, accompanying various artists in several international festivals.

Apart from Gatt on vibraphone, the quintet will also feature American musician Rino Cirinna on tenor sax, pianist and composer Claudio Angeleri from Italy, Canadian drummer Karl Jannuska and Hungarian bassist Matyas Szandai.

The Charles Gatt Vibraphone Quintet will perform on Thursday night and will be working on tunes from the modern standard jazz repertoire.