The programme for this summer is highly eclectic and will feature a diversity of styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe jazz world is constantly evolving. And so is the Malta Jazz Festival. With one foot in the past and another one in the future, we keep adjusting to contemporary trends whilst respecting tradition,\u201d said artistic director Sandro Zerafa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The festival, like previous years, will include some of the most significant bands\/ musicians in the music sector such as Mike Stern\/ Bill Evans band, Snarky Puppy and Omer Avital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World-famous Mike Stern and Bill Evans, both Grammy award nominees and former members of the Miles Davis\u2019 band in the 80s, will close off the Friday programme with their band. The duo will be accompanied by legendary drummer Dennis Chambers and Darryl Jones, who has been the Rolling Stones\u2019 bassist since Bill Wyman\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twice Grammy award winner Snarky Puppy, who is currently one of the most sought-after bands in the jazz world, is a collective of nearly 40 musicians, with a line-up which is often in flux and collaborates with a variety of artists. By this summer they will have released 11 albums. The band will close off Saturday\u2019s programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Saturday\u2019s programme will also feature Israeli-American Omer Avital who plays the double bass and the oud but is also a composer and bandleader. Reviewers have compared him to Charles Mingus and described him as \u2018roaringly inventive\u2019 and \u2018a pioneer in combining jazz with a myriad world music elements\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pianist Marcus Roberts, is perhaps best known for the development of a new approach to jazz trio performance. He will be performing on Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dominic Galea will perform alongside late jazz legend Stan Tracey\u2019s son \u2013 Clark Tracey, a friend since the 1970s, with whom he recorded an album last March in London. They will open Saturday\u2019s programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The line-up for the Thursday concerts includes world-known Cuban pianist Harold L\u00f3pez-Nussa, who has gained international attention since 2005, when he won top honours at the Montreux Jazz Piano Competition at the age of 22. Preceding L\u00f3pez-Nussa, there will be the Oliver Degabriele Trio featuring Damien Fleau, who will open the night at City Gate Entrance, and The South Sound Experience featuring Joe Debono, who will play in front of the Law Courts at 9pm. Both events are free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Zerafa explained that he has seen an increase in the following of jazz music not only amongst the audiences but also in attracting young musicians to the genre. With the Jazz on the Fringe activities, mainly the Youth Jazz Ensemble and masterclasses offered to anyone interested in the music, a platform has been created, offering new lifetime opportunities. Young talented musicians now have the opportunity to share the stage with Grammy award-winning artists, which is also encouraging them to continue studying abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jazz on the Fringe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mid-day Concerts happening during the 19th to the 23rd of July will be introduced in this summer\u2019s Fringe and will also be free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Masterclasses will be offered again by some of the festival\u2019s participants to all interested musicians. This year they will be held by Marcello Pellitteri (drums; Berklee College of Music, Boston), Roberto Occhipinti (bass; Humber College, Toronto), Vincent Jacqz (improvisation, EDIM, France), Stjepko Gut (trumpet\/improvisation) and Rino Cirinn\u00e0 (sax).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jacqz, head of the jazz department at the EDIM, will coach and direct the Fringe Youth Jazz Ensemble. The medium-sized jazz ensemble will feature the best of young talent from Malta and France, and will work on a repertoire which will be presented for the first time at the festival during Friday\u2019s opening and at a later date in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second edition of the Fringe Youth Jazz Ensemble was originally conceived by Zerafa and is performing in collaboration with the renowned EDIM music school in Paris. It is supported by the Valletta 2018 Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harold L\u00f3pez-Nussa Marcus Roberts Trio Mike Stern\/ Bill Evans band feat. Dennis Chambers & Darryl Jones Omer Avital Snarky Puppy Thursday 21st July<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n City Gate Entrance<\/em>, Valletta at 8pm Opposite <\/em>Law <\/em>Courts<\/em>, Valletta at 9pm Friday 22nd July Saturday 23rd July Ticket Prices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u20ac30 for a single day ticket \u2013 seated (VIP) Early bird tickets available from 15 April \u2013 15 May Tickets can be bought from www.ticketline.com.mt<\/a>. Visit maltajazzfestival.org<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Malta Jazz Festival, which is one of the longest running and highly-acclaimed festivals organised by Arts Council Malta, is back with a new format under the artistic direction of Sandro Zerafa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8501,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized-mt"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14544,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497\/revisions\/14544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/artscouncilmalta.gov.mt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1461246046.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_jVO9J4cDtI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=87xR7OZ2BQ4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=T_JEpNEcr80<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=klgqUQXpxFU<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7gu8q_fJeVU<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>Oliver Degabriele Trio feat. Damien Fleau<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>South Sound Experience feat. Joe Debono
Harold L\u00f3pez-Nussa<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Ta\u2019 Liesse, Valletta at 8pm
<\/em>The Fringe Youth Jazz Ensemble
Marcus Roberts Trio
Mike Stern\/ Bill Evans band feat. Dennis Chambers & Darryl Jones<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Ta\u2019 Liesse, Valletta at 8pm
<\/em>Dominic Galea – The UK Connection
Omer Avital
Snarky Puppy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u20ac50 for a 2-day block ticket \u2013 seated (VIP)
\u20ac20 for single day ticket \u2013 standing (free seating will be available)
\u20ac35 for a 2-day block ticket \u2013 standing (free seating will be available)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>\u20ac25 instead of \u20ac30 for a single day ticket \u2013 seated (VIP)
\u20ac40 instead of \u20ac50 for a 2-day block ticket \u2013 seated (VIP)
\u20ac30 instead of \u20ac35 for a 2-day block ticket \u2013 standing (free seating will be available)<\/p>\n\n\n\n