Their first gig, held just a few months ago at St James Cavalier, Valletta, drew a lot of positive comments from all those who attended, and requests for more gigs, especially from those who missed it.
If you happen to be one of the latter, the good news is that The Manuel Pulis Project will be giving another live performance. Alongside Pulis, the line-up features Jes Psaila on guitar, Alan Portelli on bass and Italian saxophonist Giovanni Cigui.
Specially-picked jazz standards that have been given a good makeover
The gig will feature a selection of original compositions – including some new numbers – as well as specially-picked jazz standards that have been given a makeover with a good dose of groove, swing and everything in between.
Manuel Pulis talks to The Sunday Times of Malta ahead of the gig.
What was the feedback you received, following the project’s live debut last October?
I’m happy to say that the feedback was very good. In particular, we appreciated that the concert achieved what we were aiming for, in terms of respect and musicality.
A big chunk of our audience are musicians themselves, so it can become very easy to fall into the trap of producing ear candy for the musician, to show off what you know.
However, this certainly was not the case here. We’ve been getting positive feedback from different types of people from a variety of musical backgrounds and tastes, all telling us they enjoyed the gig and really felt the music we performed, and that feeling is really what it’s all about.
Obviously, there’s always room for improvement on our part, and this time we’ve brought in Alba Cauchi on public relations and logistics, so the rest of us will be able to focus more on the music, which is, after all, what the whole thing is for.
The band has been trimmed down to a quartet this time. How has this affected the songs you’ve got lined up for the concert?
The music is written in such a way that it can be played in many different arrangements. This makes it possible for the absence of any one instrument to be compensated for through a different version. The use of different instruments in our formation interests us greatly. In fact, we already have plans along those lines for future gigs; trombone, trumpet, guitars, an entire brass section… who knows? The sky’s the limit really!
You’ve said that this project is about capturing the moment through music, but how important is the audience’s response to the kind of jazz you’re seeking to create and perform with this band?
Capturing the moment is really not about any one particular aspect. It’s not about the band on stage, or the audience watching and listening. It’s simply the moment that we all become part of during the performance.
The aim is for all present to be there in the moment, with the band expressing the music and through it establishing a unique connection with the audience.
The bigger picture with this project is to move away from the mentality of exclusivity and make people aware that jazz is universal. Jazz is just one of many terms we use to describe our style, which is equally influenced by other genres, among them hip hop, rock and funk. We just want to mix with people from different genres of music, find common ground with them where we can explore and discover new music together.
The music we listen to today would not be what it is, had it not been for the blues
Alongside your original compositions, jazz standards – re-interpreted, of course – play an important part in your performance. How vital is their inclusion, and does the choice of standards reflect any particular stylistic inclination on the band’s part?
Well, it all comes from the blues really. All the music we listen to today would not be what it is, had it not been for the blues, so including some jazz and blues standards here and there in our set is our way of showing our respect for the music that paved the way for us.
Of course, our main interest is to challenge ourselves in creating new, original arrangements to make it more fun and exciting for everyone, and to maintain a connection with the style and direction that our originals are headed towards.
You’ve recorded some tracks that are available for streaming online. Are there plans for an official release?
The tracks that you can hear online were recorded with the intention of putting together a CD, which we have done thanks to the support of Rotary and United Trust. However, this won’t be released just yet.
In the meantime, we chose to upload the tracks on our Soundcloud page, so people can have a listen and get acquainted with our music and what we are trying to do with this style.
We’re really still discovering ourselves and finding our own sound as a musical ensemble. Our style seems to keep changing and evolving every time we meet, so we really have no rush to release anything just yet. We’re making it a point to record all of our live performances, so there’s also the possibility of releasing some of those, apart from the studio recordings eventually.
What’s the plan after this concert?
At the moment we’ve been mostly focusing on this gig, without too much thought on the next step. However, I’m sure some touring opportunities will be coming our way… enough for me to tell you that the future for this project looks very promising.
Manuel Pulis and the band will be playing on Thursday at 8.30pm at the MITP Theatre, St Christopher’s Street, Valletta. Tickets cost €8 and are available by calling or by sending an SMS to 9984 0896.
www.facebook.com/TheManuelPulisProject