More snapshots from day 3

More day 3 photos

And what a great time we had

After three nights of wonderful music, great crowds and renewed friendships, the Malta Jazz Festival drew to a close last night. We’ve still got goosebumps.

Thank you to everyone who made this comeback edition such a resounding success. In the meantime, here are some pictures from Day 3 – when Dominic Galea and his Trio, Miguel Zenon and his Quartet and John Scofield and his Piety Street Band took us to a special place.

We will be back next year, with renewed energy to make the Malta Jazz Festival a date to remember. Not just for jazz fans, but for those in search of the finer things in life.

Some more pictures from day 2

The Jazz Festival is a photographer’s dream

The Jazz Festival is an opportunity for some of Malta’s finest photographers to get close to world class artists. We have some of Therese Debono’s pictures here. We’ll keep posting visuals of the Jazz Festival over the next days.

In the meantime, the first reviews from the international media are starting to come in.

Of fusion, mellow sounds and bossa nova

Day 2 had a totally different colour.

We started with Oliver Degabriele’s trio, featuring Alison Galea on vocals. A truly eclectic set from the Paris-based group featuring the band’s compositions and a very interesting rendering of Bowie’s Space Oddity. We’re very proud of these guys.

Kurt Rosenwinkel’s set went down very well with the core jazz fans at Ta’ Liesse last night. Mellow, a very distinctive sound, it fitted perfectly with the twinkling lights of the silent ferries gliding by in the harbour.

Eliane Elias headlined an amazing band that included guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, drummer Paulo Braga and bassist Marc Johnson. The set included several numbers from her latest recording Bossa Nova Stories. And that is pretty much what was in store for the audience yesterday – a mix of story-telling and rhythms, bare feet and the spirit of Jobim and Joao Gilberto taking us to a better place. Truly unforgettable.

More shots from Day One

Great shots from Joe P. Smith

Jazz colours from day One

Sergio Muscat wades in with these vibrant shots of Maraca in concert on day 1.

And day 1 closed to the sound of salsa!

Yes, things got a bit hot when Maraca invited some audience participation for their last number!

More pictures from day 1 of the Malta Jazz Festival

What was great about last night was the way we seemed to transit seamlessly from Brad Mehldau’s sophisticated artistry to Maraca’s hip-swinging brass and flute and pumping bass.