Etnikafe - Bumbum at Fort St Elmo

Summer in Malta brings with it a hankering for mellow jazz notes falling silent to the sound of waves breaking gently against the imposing backdrop of Valletta's bastions.

It also brings along the festa season, with gleaming brass bands drowned out by colourful fireworks in the village square, bottles of ice-cold beer and a throng of familiar shiny faces.

This summer, Etnika brings you both in a programme aptly named Bumbum, running over three nights at Fort St Elmo, Valletta, later this month.

In its attempts to revive Malta's flagging musical heritage, Etnika has been working for the past three years to create awareness of traditional Maltese instruments and melodies and stimulate their revival.

Etnika's artistic director Andrew Alamango likes to say that Etnika "fills in the gaps" left by years of neglect on traditional melodies.

Etnika works on these mostly unwritten tunes by fusing them with more mainstream sounds to bring them closer to what the contemporary popular mindset is conditioned to accept, thus ensuring that the music reaches a wider audience and is kept alive.

So far, Etnika has reworked and remoulded local music with jazz, flamenco, new percussion rhythms and electronic music.

This year is the year of the brass band with a four-piece band made up of a tuba, a French horn, a trumpet and a trombone.

The brass band makes up less than a fourth of the 18-odd artists giving their input to the performance, which has evolved from tentative experiment to Etnika's much-awaited annual showcase.

Its greatest achievement lies in the interest it has stirred in people coming from all walks of life, from the President himself, who has made it known he intends attending the concert because he wants to show his support for Etnika's efforts, to the real pioneers of the local music scene, the village musicians who play the music in the raw as it was passed down to them by their forebears.

This year Etnika will host it-Tommi (Toni Camilleri), il-Hammarum (Toni Cachia), il-Budaj (Frans Baldacchino) and Toni tal-Gebel (Toni Spiteri).

Ethnic music evokes a very definite reaction involving a brand of raw emotion associated with pride in national identity. Maltese people have their own issues with identity, a mixture of pride and shame they grapple to come to terms with.

The music played by Etnika reflects the struggle. Percussionist Andrej Vujicic and his wife, flamenco dancer Francesca Grima describe the feeling as "collective catharsis".

"The emotion at a concert is palpable," he says, "because most people recognise that the music is giving voice to their identity.

"It is important for a nation to have its songs and lyrics, to help it express its culture and emotion," Andrew pitches in.

The feeling starts with the musicians. "We got the best musicians in their field. We got together to create a new legacy and their passion was unmistakable right from the very start. They are thrilled to be contributing to this, and not just giving their interpretation of a written score," Andrew says.

"People tell us they're amazed by how much we look like we are enjoying ourselves. And we are! There's a lot of energy coming from the audience, it creates a magical groove which they carry to us and we send it back out to them. It is theirs as much as it is ours."

Etnikafe - Bumbum will be held at Fort St Elmo from July 31 to August 2 at 8.30 p.m.

Tickets at Lm4.50 are available from St James Cavalier on 2122 3200, the organisers on 7940 4134 or 2141 8077 or at the door.

http://www.etnika.com.mt/