A charming mixture of traditional kitsch and contemporary reinterpretations, the Kelma Kelma Nota Nota series are placing the Maltese language firmly back under the spotlight. Ramona Depares catches up with creator Michael Spagnol to find out what’s in store for the upcoming performances.

The last series of Kelma Kelma Nota Nota concerts held at Pjazza Teatru Rjal about a month ago, found a full-house enthusiastically clapping and singing along to those Maltese golden oldies that we all remember from our childhood.

The brainchild of Big Band Brothers’ Daniel Cauchi and Kelma Kelma Facebook page creator Michael Spagnol, the concerts build on what the social media cult hit started, presenting the audience with a musical and literary show that some-how bridges the gap between traditional and contemporary.

Now, the concert series is back with another three events this month and a further three in August. I caught up with Spagnol to find out what’s in store for the audience next week.

It’s quite a jump from a Facebook page to a full-blown music show. How was the idea to collaborate with Big Band Brothers born?

It all started when, in the first half of 2014, Daniel Cauchi, who is the lead singer and director of the Big Band Brothers, approached me to join forces and create a concert which brings together Maltese music, language and literature. The idea to name it Kelma Kelma + Big Band Brothers sounded awesome for a number of reasons.

It just happened that a few months earlier I had been thinking of organising some activity with music, poetry and a play on words to mark the first year anniversary since the launch of Kelma Kelma.

Unknowingly, Daniel and I had been working along the same lines.

On the one hand, together with his band he had released the album Ftakar, a collection of classic Maltese songs thoroughly rearranged by the Big Band Brothers.

He has also organised a couple of concerts that revisit some traditional songs in Maltese, giving them a modern twist.

On the other hand, I was trying to do the same thing with the Maltese language on Facebook by collecting a number of proverbs, nursery rhymes, riddles (ħaġa moħġaġa), poetry lines, and the like, giving them a modern feel through social media, by adding puns and funny definitions.

And then Ray Calleja entered the equation. We started researching the material for the first concert, which revolved around popular characters in Maltese music and literature – I use the word ‘literature’ in a very broad sense to include characters such as Baby Ġoġò, Marija l-Maltija, Ġaħan, Mastru Gerfex, Fra Mudest and Paċikk.

When we started putting all the pieces together, it was clear that we needed a good actor to help the Big Band bring these characters to life.

An old lady sitting beside a small boy, both clapping to the music and laughing along to the word play

And Calleja, being the excellent actor he is, with all the characters he created over the past years and his love for Maltese literature (he has taken part in many literary events), was just perfect for the role.

What is your role in the whole process?

Calleja, Cauchi and myself each have an important role in the whole process. Cauchi and I research the songs, which Cauchi then rearranges, big band style.

I also research poems, prose and makkjetti, the latter typically being a comic sketch, sometimes accompanied by song. Makkjetti used to be very popular, especially in the first half of the 20th century, and we are trying to revive them, in a modern setting.

Once the research process is over, we put the items together and study the themes, approaches, music styles used and we take special note of what is lacking – topics, issues, genres that our forefathers did not write or sing about.

We then complement these items with new material, which we create specifically for each show.

This dichotomy is very important for us – revisiting traditional music and literature while creating new songs and texts. Usually, I write the lyrics and Cauchi composes the music.

These songs are then performed on stage with the big band. Some are sung by Cauchi, who truly has a great voice and who interprets Maltese song very well, unlike some young singers these days.

Others are sung by Calleja or our guests (we try to have at least one guest per show, depending on the theme).

For every concert I also write a 15- to 20-minute long text, tongue-in-cheek, stand-up comedy style, which aims to make the audience laugh while thinking about our culture and society – even those aspects which make us roll our eyes.

Calleja then performs and interprets this in a superb manner. He is an excellent narrator.

Your first series of concerts this summer was themed Qaddisin, with a ‘naughty but nice’ angle on our beloved saints. How was this received by the audience?

The reaction was unbelievable. We received so many messages and calls, as well as some positive reviews on the media.

The theatre was jam-packed for the three nights which, in all modesty, is not an easy thing to do. We are mostly used to concerts in English and Italian, but not to full concerts in Maltese.

The audience is very mixed and ranges from well-known poets and musicians to families, young and old. I really love the idea of an old lady sitting beside a small boy, both clapping to the music and laughing to the word play.

It is very important for us that children are there in the theatre. They rarely get the opportunity to listen to good music in Maltese and to well-written poems and prose performed on stage.

And we encourage parents to bring their children along so that, apart from, and in addition to, the Disney and MTV songs they listen to, they also learn to appreciate local, traditional and contemporary, music.

Just to set parents’ minds at rest, we do our best to keep our shows clean as this is a family show. No dirty jokes here; we already get so many of those in other comic shows.

How do you feel these concerts help keep the Maltese language alive?

Music and language are related in so many ways. Some argue that music is itself a language, “the universal language of mankind”, and this is indicative of the communicative quality of music.

Others argue that language is music, so much so that music is playing a huge role in language education.

There are many books and videos that teach a foreign language through music and the latter is certainly important in the learning process.

By using song, we can learn foreign languages and save dying tongues. Now, Maltese is by no means an endangered language. Still, being a bilingual community, we are highly exposed to English, which is a good thing.

However, we need to provide good quality books, songs, TV shows and films in Maltese too. This is what Cauchi, Calleja and I are trying to do so, at least music-wise, with these Kelma Kelma Nota Nota concerts.

What is the theme for the upcoming series of concerts and what led to the choice?

The series is called Koffee Morning, with the theme being women. The name is intended to be half-teasing, half-provocative, placing the woman right in the spotlight and celebrating her in all her colours and moods through song and literature.

In this concert, we will look at the woman not only from a male, but also from a female perspective.

This show will find many women on stage… Ira Losco, Clare Agius and Claire Agius Ordway from Ilsien in-Nisa are but three.

Kelma Kelma Nota Nota, Koffee Morning, takes place on July 28, 29 and 30 at 9pm at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta. The event is part of the Malta Arts Festival.  Tickets are available online.

www.ticketline.com.mt