I caught up with SANDRO ZERAFA who was in Malta to promote the Jazz festival in July
Jazz guitarist and composer Sandro Zerafa has been the artistic director of the Malta Jazz Festival since 2009. He was born and grew up in Rabat. Married with one son he now lives and works in Paris. He does not come from a musical family, he told me, but his older brother, Ramon, was passionate about music and that must have rubbed off because Sandro started strumming the guitar at eight years of age, when he was listening to a lot of the Beatles music.
He got really serious about his guitar playing at about 12 years of age. After several years of classical guitar studies, Sandro found himself in a musical midpoint; he was listening to Sonic Youth, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Miles Davis at the same time. He belongs to the ‘rock’ generation, when bands like Velvet Underground were the rage. However, following this post-adolescent crisis he dedicated himself to jazz. His music collection now consists of 80 per cent jazz. He started gigging with the late Nicky Doublet, Bernard Scerri and Charles City Gatt, he told me.
Sandro graduated with Honours in music at the Malta University in 1997, then moved to - what he informed me is the capital of the tripe sausage - Lyons in 1998. He carried on with his studies at the Lyons conservatory and graduated with medaille d’ore and Diploma in Music. “I discovered Ornette Coleman while eating more tripe sausage and decided to move to Paris in search of further mental disequilibrium,” he joked.
“In France, most of the things are centralized in the capital. After spending two years in Lyon, it seemed natural to move to the capital. Although Lyon is a pleasant city, Paris has definitely more work opportunities and it attracts jazz musicians from all over the world,” he told me. However, Paris is an expensive city and can be lonely to live in. I wondered how he was getting on there.
“At first I knew no one in Paris, I was pretty shy and the first year was quite bizarre. Later I came across musicians like David Prez, who I knew in Lyons, Olivier Zanot, Yoni Zelnik and David Georgelet and we started working on projects together. I also started playing as a sideman on different projects. He still hasn’t figured out how to attain his financial goals, but he has learnt how to make a good porcini risotto. When not playing guitar he can be spotted jogging in Bercy Park “in another vain attempt to reduce weight”, he told me. Sandro is not the only Maltese musician to be based in Paris. There is quite a group of up and coming and established Maltese musicians who meet up to “drink, eat and argue”.
I asked him what influenced his music. “I love the classical guitar, that was what made me discover the Brazilian music of Villa-Lobos. I am not exactly influenced by Brazilian music but it is very much part of my musical journey. The guitar is an instrument that opens up an infinite number of possibilities. I also like the piano, I think I try to find the same ‘colour’ in my guitar playing. I listen to the greats like Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk,” he told me.
Sandro’s first group featured trombone player Sebastien Llado and won 3rd prize at the La Defense National Jazz Contest. He formed the group “The Jaywalkers” with alto saxophone player Olivier Zanot and drummer David Georgelet (winning a Mention Speciale for Composition at the La Defense Contest). It was later augmented to a quintet with the addition of Yoni Zelnik and David Prez (a companion from his conservatory days).
Sandro’s own White Russian 5tet first recording was awarded a Disque D’emoi by Jazz Magazine. He has won several awards at successive editions of La Defense National Jazz Contest, and has been very active on the Paris jazz scene. He has performed in Italy, Malta, Belgium, Morocco, Switzerland, Brazil, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and S.Korea.
“I consider myself very lucky at being able to have a profession, which I am so passionate about. I have to do it, I need to do it, it’s my drug. Besides, having your ass constantly kicked by talented 20-something-year-old musicians makes you get your act together. I feel that this environment is necessary for a musician to improve. Playing with other musicians is when you really learn. Of course having good teachers gives you the grounding you need and the most important thing is listening to the masters and absorbing their language.
"I am currently writing material for my third album as a leader. This album will feature Laurent Coq, Yoni Zelnik, Fred Pasqua and some guests. This recording will be made possible through the generous help of the Malta Arts Fund and the Janatha Stubbs Foundation. It will be released on PJU records in the end of 2013. However, I am still in search of an experience equalling that of drinking caipirinhas at sundown in Ipanema,” he told me. You can find out more about his music on his new website www.sandrozerafa.com
I wondered why he got involved with the jazz festival here? “I became a fan of the Malta Jazz Festival in 1994, when I was overwhelmed by John Scofield,” he told me. After that came the time when “I painfully dismembered jazz standards on the island of Malta, in search for an ‘identity’”, he added.
He got really serious about his guitar playing at about 12 years of age. After several years of classical guitar studies, Sandro found himself in a musical midpoint; he was listening to Sonic Youth, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Miles Davis at the same time. He belongs to the ‘rock’ generation, when bands like Velvet Underground were the rage. However, following this post-adolescent crisis he dedicated himself to jazz. His music collection now consists of 80 per cent jazz. He started gigging with the late Nicky Doublet, Bernard Scerri and Charles City Gatt, he told me.
Sandro graduated with Honours in music at the Malta University in 1997, then moved to - what he informed me is the capital of the tripe sausage - Lyons in 1998. He carried on with his studies at the Lyons conservatory and graduated with medaille d’ore and Diploma in Music. “I discovered Ornette Coleman while eating more tripe sausage and decided to move to Paris in search of further mental disequilibrium,” he joked.
“In France, most of the things are centralized in the capital. After spending two years in Lyon, it seemed natural to move to the capital. Although Lyon is a pleasant city, Paris has definitely more work opportunities and it attracts jazz musicians from all over the world,” he told me. However, Paris is an expensive city and can be lonely to live in. I wondered how he was getting on there.
“At first I knew no one in Paris, I was pretty shy and the first year was quite bizarre. Later I came across musicians like David Prez, who I knew in Lyons, Olivier Zanot, Yoni Zelnik and David Georgelet and we started working on projects together. I also started playing as a sideman on different projects. He still hasn’t figured out how to attain his financial goals, but he has learnt how to make a good porcini risotto. When not playing guitar he can be spotted jogging in Bercy Park “in another vain attempt to reduce weight”, he told me. Sandro is not the only Maltese musician to be based in Paris. There is quite a group of up and coming and established Maltese musicians who meet up to “drink, eat and argue”.
I asked him what influenced his music. “I love the classical guitar, that was what made me discover the Brazilian music of Villa-Lobos. I am not exactly influenced by Brazilian music but it is very much part of my musical journey. The guitar is an instrument that opens up an infinite number of possibilities. I also like the piano, I think I try to find the same ‘colour’ in my guitar playing. I listen to the greats like Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk,” he told me.
Sandro’s first group featured trombone player Sebastien Llado and won 3rd prize at the La Defense National Jazz Contest. He formed the group “The Jaywalkers” with alto saxophone player Olivier Zanot and drummer David Georgelet (winning a Mention Speciale for Composition at the La Defense Contest). It was later augmented to a quintet with the addition of Yoni Zelnik and David Prez (a companion from his conservatory days).
Sandro’s own White Russian 5tet first recording was awarded a Disque D’emoi by Jazz Magazine. He has won several awards at successive editions of La Defense National Jazz Contest, and has been very active on the Paris jazz scene. He has performed in Italy, Malta, Belgium, Morocco, Switzerland, Brazil, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and S.Korea.
“I consider myself very lucky at being able to have a profession, which I am so passionate about. I have to do it, I need to do it, it’s my drug. Besides, having your ass constantly kicked by talented 20-something-year-old musicians makes you get your act together. I feel that this environment is necessary for a musician to improve. Playing with other musicians is when you really learn. Of course having good teachers gives you the grounding you need and the most important thing is listening to the masters and absorbing their language.
"I am currently writing material for my third album as a leader. This album will feature Laurent Coq, Yoni Zelnik, Fred Pasqua and some guests. This recording will be made possible through the generous help of the Malta Arts Fund and the Janatha Stubbs Foundation. It will be released on PJU records in the end of 2013. However, I am still in search of an experience equalling that of drinking caipirinhas at sundown in Ipanema,” he told me. You can find out more about his music on his new website www.sandrozerafa.com
I wondered why he got involved with the jazz festival here? “I became a fan of the Malta Jazz Festival in 1994, when I was overwhelmed by John Scofield,” he told me. After that came the time when “I painfully dismembered jazz standards on the island of Malta, in search for an ‘identity’”, he added.
“A Malte, le jazz c’était inexistant” (jazz was non-existent in Malta) he was quoted in a French music magazine. "That was in the early 90's. Things have changed since then, but that was why I decided to leave the island because at that time the jazz scene was very meagre and there were very few opportunities." he told me. Maybe it was because we were not exposed to it so much here and that is why people like Sandro, and Charles City Gatt before him, put so much effort in promoting the July Festival and brought togeher musicians from all over the globe.
There are also other Malta based musicians who play jazz in public places like on the bridge down the steps, which are always crowded, leading down to the Grand Harbour on Friday evenings in he summer.
“However, one can never compare the situation in Malta to any large city in Europe or elsewhere. Jazz in general thrives in big cities where there is a huge influx of musicians from different corners of the world,” Sandro said. Exposing the Maltese public to jazz and encouraging local musicians is what the festival in July is all about.
I asked Sandro whether he had seen any changes since 2009? “Yes, definitely, we have seen many more ticket sales and the audiences are younger, which is encouraging. I continue in City Gatt’s footsteps, but obviously I wanted to make my own stamp. It is the only big jazz event of the year and we try to make it as eclectic as possible, but unlike other major jazz festivals, which are succumbing to watered down jazz and jazz pop, we want to preserve the integrity of the Malta festival, to retain the jazz element and not stray in order to attract wider audiences,” he told me.
This year will see the first edition of the Malta Jazz Contest, being held by the festival in collaboration with the Malta Embassy in France and Malta International Airport (MIA). The contest will be held on July 21 and is open to jazz soloists of Maltese nationality up to the age of 35. Participation is free of charge. The winner will participate in the Les Sons d'Une Île festival in Paris, organised by the Malta Embassy in France. The jury will consist of foreign jazz musicians participating in the festival and the results will be announced on the same day.
“The Malta Summer Jazz Camp is also being held for the first time in collaboration with the MIA and the Euro Institute of Music. This will feature some of the most important musicians in the European jazz scene today,” Sandro told me.
Workshops/master classes will be held at the Euro Institute of Music (Hamrun) between July 17 and 20, free of charge. The teachers in this year's Jazz Camp are Rino Cirinnà – saxophone; Claudio Angeleri - piano/jazz theory; Romain Pilon – guitar; Mátyás Szandai - bass/rhythm section; Karl Jannuska – drums/rhythm section. Besides, in the days preceding and following the festival, which runs from Thursday 18 to Saturday 20 July in the open-air setting of Ta’ Liesse, a number of events, including master classes and open-air concerts, will also be held.
The first night of the festival will feature Robert Glasper Experiment, fresh from his Grammy-award victory. Also performing on the first day will be two-time Grammy award nominee Gerald Clayton with his trio. He was recently voted first place for Rising Star – Pianist in Down Beat Magazine’s 2010 Critics Poll. Grammy nominee and one of the current jazz greats Gregory Porter will perform at the festival on July 19.
Performing on the same night will be Grammy-nominated composer-pianist Vijay Iyer, who was awarded an unprecedented quintuple crown in the Down Beat International Critics Poll. The Vijay Iyer Trio won the 2010 Echo Award (the 'German Grammy') for best international ensemble and the 2012 Downbeat Critics Poll for jazz group of the year.
Multi-Grammy award winner and internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Michel Camilo will perform on July 20. Gilad Hekselman, one of the most exciting Israeli-born musicians on the jazz scene, will also perform with his quartet on the same night.
The Maltese acts will include the festival’s former artistic director Charles 'City' Gatt with his vibraphone quintet on July 18, Walter Vella Quartet on July 19 and Cusp on July 20.
Nine concerts on 18, 19, 20 July at €40.
The Malta Jazz Festival is supported by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts. It is sponsored by the Malta International Airport, Cyberpass, MSV Life, Switch, Hotel Phoenicia, the Valletta local council and the Culture Ministry.
maltajazzfestival.org
Article published in the Malta Independent on Sunday 14/04/2013
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