The opening event of the 35th edition of the Malta Jazz festival took place at the Valetta Campus Theatre in Malta’s capital city. Prior to the showing of a film documentary about the festival’s history there was an award to be made to a student of the university: The Charles “City” Gatt Award.
Charles “City” Gatt was the founder of the Malta Jazz festival and, from what I could tell from the film, was quite a character as well. Charles travelled to America to try and book acts directly, rather than go via agents and thereby saving money on agents fees. The likes of Chick Corea and Michel Petrucciani agreed to attend and the festival was up and running, with some of the biggest names in jazz music following in their footsteps in the years that followed
Prior to the documentary Keeping Time being shown, the current Artistic Director, Sandro Zerafa, spoke about great art being given time to develop and never more so than in the current fast paced world in which we live. Jazz music has a rich, international history that should be honoured and kept alive as its roots are our present.
With all of that in mind, the live performance was from a major name on the current Malta jazz scene, Dominic Galea. The Dominic Galea Quartet, featuring Dominic Galea at the piano, Walter Vella on tenor sax, Mario Aquilina played double bass and Noel Grech was on drums, celebrated a golden era in Maltese jazz history. The concert feaured music by Charles Camilleri, Ray Agius, Antoine Bonnici Soler, Lino Cauchi, Paul Abela, Sammy Galea, and original compositons from Dominic Galea himself.
I can’t tell you much about who wrote what as all the chat and song introductions were spoken in Maltese. However, the first tune was a fine straight ahead jazz number that introduced each band member through their respective solo spots. The second number was, I believe, The Journey and was, for me, one of the highlights of the evening. The playing was superb, built around a repeating bass line, from the wonderful Mario Aquilina, and drum patterns from Noel Grech. The sax playing from Walter Vella was captivating and the deft touch of Dominic Galea adding the perfect tonal colouration to the proceedings: all very atmospheric and a joy to listen to.
The Journey was followed by a gorgeous ballad, which in turn was followed by a lively, upbeat number titled Boptomistic. Then came the second oustanding number of the evening. The tune was played over a repeating phrase, an ostinato, presented by bassist Mario Aquilina. This phrase was reflected in the left hand of Dominic Galea. Walter Vella had the melodic lines on sax while Noel Grech grounded it all with some terric well-toned drumming using mallets. This was engaging music that I really did not want to stop. The playing was first-class and the powerful interjections from Noel Grech that momentarily changed the tune’s dynamics were, for me, breathtaking.
The evening finished on a ballad and a very well deserved round of applause from an appreciative audience. This was a masterclass in Maltese jazz music and one I was privileged to sit through. I have long been an admirer of Dominic Galea and this was the first time I had had the opportunity to hear him play live with his own quartet (I had heard him accompany the vocalist Nadine Axisa some years ago). I will now go and explore the many Maltese jazz names put forward during this opening evening and although I will have to make do with recordings, at least I now have this memory of hearing Dominic Galea play live to add to my own personal jazz history.
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