The Big Band Brothers are set for a musical trip down memory lane, with a Malta Arts Festival programme that focuses on composer Alfred C. Sant’s works. Rachel Agius finds out more.

It’s all about Maltese pop music at Ftakar 2, the theme of this year’s Big Band Brothers performance, says musician Daniel Cauchi.

Many people might be surprised to find that Sant is behind old favourites as Il-Merill, Tweet Tweet and L-Ewwel Tfajla li Ħabbejt

“We’ve always been about having fun and entertaining people,” he says. That element has certainly lived on since The Big Band Brothers grew from a 10-piece band to the full complement of musicians, some of whom have performed alongside music giants like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

The ensemble was set up in 2006 performing at festivals and private functions, but since then there have been a substantial number of projects and events, including concerts both locally and abroad, collaborations with other performers and – as of last year – the recording of their first original single.

This year’s Malta Arts Festival offering continues in the same vein as last year’s Ftakar, albeit with a slightly different concept. Ftakar 2 will focus solely on the works of composer Alfred C. Sant, arranging his particular style of music and lyrics for the big band and a contemporary audience.

Sant has been writing songs for over 40 years and has several impressive accolades to his name. He has collaborated with local songwriters, has written two of the entries to the Malta Song for Europe, had his work performed by Italian vocalist Claudio Baglioni and has released his own songbook. And yet, as Cauchi observes, many do not connect his name to his work.

“I remember hearing his music and enjoying it as a child and later, as my interest in Maltese music grew,” Cauchi explains. “But it was only last year, when he approached me after Ftakar, that I put two and two together. I had been an inadvertent fan for years.”

In fact, many people might be surprised to find that Sant is behind old favourites as Il-Merill, Tweet Tweet and L-Ewwel Tfajla li Ħabbejt. For Sant, creating new songs is in his blood.

“Someone will give me a melody and it all starts from there.”

The 1980s were a good time for local pop music – it was then that Sant’s music made it to Zecchino D’Oro, an Italian children’s song festival.

“In those days the main focus was to bridge the gap between the Maltese folk idiom of għana and the pop music that was quickly gaining ground,” he says.

I turn to Cauchi and ask him whether Sant’s experience in the 1980s still holds true even today. The reply: not so much. That gap has been closed and The Big Band Brothers have often taken Maltese music along with them to international festivals, where it is met with great interest and enthusiasm.

“I never thought audiences in Liverpool and Turkey would respond so well to songs in such a relatively obscure language.”

Singing in Maltese is, predictably, very different to singing in English – and not just in the obvious way.

“The sounds and rhythm of the words are completely different,” notes Cauchi, who is a percussionist with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra when he isn’t singing with The Big Band Brothers.

“This is probably why people interested in playing and creating music locally are more likely to do so in English, which is the language used in popular music today. It gives them access to a larger, international audience.”

A larger audience, however, comes with a steep price. Getting started in the music industry is neither easy nor does it guarantee success.

“It costs several thousand euros just to get your foot in the door, so to speak. Then you have to face the fact that competition is intense.”

So should local musicians stay in Malta? Cauchi disagrees, but adds that keeping our feet on the ground is a must.

“Many musical outfits fail because they want fame, internationally and immediately,” Cauchi explains.

“With plenty of hard work on home turf, The Big Band Brothers have developed a local following which then led to opportunities abroad. I don’t think it would have worked out if we had started off aiming for the international sphere from the beginning.”

Ftakar 2 will be performed at the Argotti Gardens, Floriana, on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Tickets are €15 (€10 with concessions). www.maltaartsfestival.org