“The Mellieha council recently organised a memorable jazz concert with the participation of an Italian quartet. This shows a certain value for art and culture, which should be emulated by others”

How and when did your love for jazz music start?

My interest in both music and the visual arts started more or less concurrently. As a young student I had attended the school of art for some time. I pursued an art course at St Michael’s Training College and taught art for five years before I started teaching at the school of music. After some solo exhibitions I was invited to join the European Art group Frequenzen (www.eag-frequenzen.org) with whom I still have a good working relationship. I have travelled, worked and exhibited with them in Germany, Italy, Hungary, Austria and South Korea, explained Mr Gatt.

Normally my work involves painting, installations and performing art. The German Government sponsors this group. I have also taken part in several exhibitions with Start, the local art group. As a musician I have performed in festivals in the USA, Russia, North Africa, Australia and most European countries.

I have recorded an album of percussion works written by the late Maestro Charles Camilleri which I have recorded with a Canadian label and which I played at the Royal Festival Hall and the Barbican Centre.

Where music is concerned my first influence was Uncle Joe, an accordion player who introduced me to jazz through records and who had to suffer my first attempts at playing drums. Although I have played various musical styles, jazz for me had a stronger pull. To me the range of expression was greater than other more predictable and less adventurous music. Meeting Antoine Bonnici Soler and ‘il-Markiz’ Joe Scicluna – with whom I would play every Sunday night at Balluta – led to me playing with all the Jazz musicians who visited the island.

Then I met Joe Arnaud and John Porter, an English pianist. We rehearsed everyday for six months playing standards and jazz samba. On his second visit to Malta, Bertil Strandberg encouraged me to go to Berklee to study with Joe Hunt and I did just that. At Boston’s Berklee College of Music, I studied with Joe Hunt, Mike Metheny and Andy Jaffe. For a year I was a regular percussionist with Boston’s Melrose Symphony Orchestra and with Joe Mahkolm’s Big Band. From 1991 I served as musical director of Malta Jazz Festival for 15 years.

Can you tell me something on how the first edition of the Jazz festival came to be? What inspired you?

The first idea came to Dr Michael Frendo who at the time was Parliamentary Secretary for Culture and the Arts. He sent for me and we discussed the possibilities of organising the festival. He gave me a budget to work with and he told me that I would be responsible for everything. At the time I did not realise that this meant the choice of artists, security, stage construction and just about every logistical aspect, including cleaning up and the supply of garbage bins.

How do you think the Malta Jazz Festival evolved since it started?

Twenty years ago we did not use internet and e-mail. Everything was done by telephone. I visited the Soho Jazz Festival and saw Elvin Jones, Michel Petrucciani and Robin Jones, a percussionist whom I already knew. These were the first artists I booked for the first festival. Booking Chick Corea was a long story as the piano he wanted to perform on couldn’t be provided by the local agent. His management came to our aid at the very last minute and we got the piano from Italy together with an Italian piano tuner. As time went by I travelled and met musicians, agents and producers in festivals and jazz conventions. Right from the start we explored a variety of styles and genres to satisfy the enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

The old Marina in the Grand Harbour was my choice for venue. After a few consultations about sound and logistics we rightly assumed that it would go well with the audience and the musicians. But the main reason was that the fortifications and bastions offer a spectacular open-air setting, which is amazingly intimate at the same time. The sponsorship was very low at first but it increased as the festival became more successful. People like Pierre Stafrace and Edward Mercieca who worked for our main sponsor helped to promote the festival and we developed a fine working relationship. They always came to my aid when I had problems with the Culture department. Talented people both in the Culture department and the Arts Council run the festival today. I must also mention and thank Anton Miceli from the department who assisted me for many years and now is back with the new version of the festival. I am glad that someone like Sandro Zerafa is now the artistic director of the festival. The organisation of the festival needs a sense of adventure and an innovative spirit, good ideas and imaginative programming. Bad programming is a self-punishing offence as was experienced during the three years that the festival spent in limbo.

You will be performing in this year’s 20th edition of the jazz festival, can you tell me more about it?

I am looking forward to playing with Joe Debono at the next jazz festival. I have been playing with Joe for at least 12 years. He is now living in Luxembourg, playing better than ever and he still treats music as a stimulating and ultimately rewarding journey of discovery. There will be a French acoustic bass player and a British saxophone player with us. Joe and I have already shared this experience when we played with Italian musicians at St James Cavalier and Ta’ Liesse.

Nowadays I play in a couple of places that hold jazz nights regularly. I still practise and work hard on my vibraphone technique and enjoy a gig that offers different percussive possibilities. Occasionally I meet and play with the younger musicians who had started to study when I was working at the School of Music. We used to have jazz ensembles, which were involved in the jazz festival on several occasions, accompanying soloists like Gabriele Comeglio and Emilio Soana. A string ensemble from the school also accompanied Charlie Haden in one concert and every year workshops by top-heavy artists were held at the school.

Apart from the Malta Jazz festival what other jazz activities are held in Malta during the year?

Nowadays there are more wine bars and restaurants and some other venues where one can listen to jazz during the year. There was a time when more formal jazz concerts were held at places like the Manoel Theatre. There are a few local councils that organise jazz events every now and then. The Mellieha council recently organised a memorable jazz concert with the participation of an Italian quartet. This shows a certain value for art and culture, which should be emulated by others. One is impressed with the seriousness and dedication shown by some of our young musicians. The jazz festival has spurred on some talented musicians to work harder and practise seriously but at the same time there are some musicians out there who do not find the right environment to nurture their talent. In many musical situations the artist tries to sell what he is playing using tricky, artificial and commercial devices. In a really good, spontaneous jazz performance the music has a deeper relationship with the audience.