The yearly appointment with the Etnika project shall be with us in the forthcoming days, this time in the majestic setting of the recently restored baroque Vilhena Palace in Mdina. Andrew Alamango, Etnika co-ordinator, and Andrej Vujicic shall be bringing together no less than fifteen top performers giving a fusion of Maltese folk, flamenco and jazz.
One of the guest performers is Mikiel Cumbo l-Izgej, who shall sing Ghana a la Bormliza, a high-pitched version of Maltese folk singing. This is the least known style of the local ghana. Fellow Zejtun-man Zeppi Spagnol shall accompany Cumbo on the guitar, il-prim.
What compels Etnika to feature ghana a la Bormliza, a high-pitched form of local folk singing? “There are social barriers where Ghana is concerned. People don’t usually want to stick their feet in the mud. There are at times ‘vulgar’ connotations, in the sense that it is considered to be crude. There is a need to expose the remaining vestiges of our musical tradition in its raw state. This is raw emotion, because it is a raw expression of a rural tradition,” he answers.
Andrej Vujicic, a Serb with a Maltese heart, declares, “I have this little thing to say: The scene is like you discover that you had been adopted and are looking out for your parents. You may like them, you may not, but they are still your parents.” Indeed, it is still a voyage of self-discovery for those that usually shy away from anything related to Maltese folklore. Andrej, who shall be playing the cajon, an Andean percussive instrument that is featured in flamenco, shall be leaving Malta following the concert, on tour in Germany and Japan.
He continues “The concept for this year is that of evolution, continuing were we left last year with the very successful etnikafé concerts that were held at the Royal Theatre Ruins in Valletta. Last year we launched the fusion, putting pieces in a pot, and now it has become a nice broth. It has become a genre of world music.”
There shall be at least six new tracks, including Il-Banda t’Indri, which features Andrew’s mandolin and Joanna Aquilina’s violin. Named so as a tribute to this folk outfit, Etnika prides in resuscitating traditional instruments that had withered out from usage. Primary of these is the Maltese bagpipe, iz-zaqq, played by Edmond Jackson. Speaking of the zaqq, Etnika’s Guzi Gatt has had a busy winter building bagpipes, considering that interest in this instrument is growing.
Walter Vella’s coaxing of his soprano saxophone and flute in these still Maltese summer nights should provide the excellent tonic for another new track, Id-Daqqa ta’ l-HaHaj, another tribute to fisherman and folk musician Anglu Zammit il-HaHaj. “We developed a refrain from a HaHaj flute tune and we added a modulation into the relative minor key. Bernard Scerri had a brimful of ideas on this tune,” he reiterates.
Born in Zurrieq in 1877, il-HaHaj lived in Siggiewi and Ghar Lapsi, where his fishing boat, a Maltese caique was berthed. Two generations down the family line, Kola Zammit recollects il-HaHaj. “For him music was more important than food. When the sea was rough he would while his time playing the flejguta.”
Through my research, this year Etnika shall be presenting two new instruments, the tanburettes, it-tanburett tal-pjanci and the shaker, ic-cekcieka. I managed to trace tinsmith Guzeppi Cassar, from Hal Ghaxaq. “There lived a tinsmith in this village, nicknamed It-Truzzi, who used to make tanburetti and tambourines from ham, bully-beef and tomato paste tin containers. Remember that in the pre-war period poor folk could never afford to buy the imported wooden tanburettes. The last one I made before you turned up was over forty years ago!” he exclaims.
Three zinc tanburetti were made, painstakingly decorated by Mosta-born Marija Muscat, who has hand-painted indigenous wild flowers and traditional folk art symbols on them. Who would have imagined the locals filled the ceckieka, with gravel? Both instruments shall be heard on Tanbur Dance, a move on Festa Jaleos. It shall also feature the zummara, zafzafa, zaqq and the percussive loops of DJ Owen Jay, another innovation for this year’s concerts.
Julie Pomorski shall sing grooved up versions of the rhymes Pizzi Pizzi Kanna, as transcribed by folklorist Guze Cassar Pullicino, and Ongi Ongi Ongella. The latter has been fused with a very popular Macedonian washerwoman folk song, Jovano Jovanke, (Gwanna Gwannina), still sung on the Vardar’s tributaries. Both Jason Fabri, on the djembe, darbouka and tanburetti, and Oliver DeGabriele on the double bass shall feature on Zifna, Grinta and Edward Jones’ 18th century Maltese melody Parata.
Last year Cikka Grima was one of the highlights of Etnikafé. Back from Seville, where she is under the tutorship of none other than Manuela Rojas, the Maltese flamenco dancer, the bailaora, is bubbling with enthusiasm. “In Spain there are only two professional flamenco shoemakers - Gallardo and Menkes. I am fortunate that I have had custom made shoes for me. As you know, these have nails and iron strips in the sole and heels. A bailaora’s body is also a percussive instrument.”
“This is manifested very clearly in Rondena, where I shall be doing a lot of off beats, the contra tiempos, to the rhythm that the rest of the musicians shall be doing. This is my dance. Rondena is a six-beat palo featuring Andrej, Walter, and Joe Debono on piano and I shall work around it.”
What should the audience expect from these Mdina concerts? “Last year we performed in Valletta, that incidentally reminds me so much of Cadiz. This year we have de Mondion’ s baroque palace in Mdina, an enchanting location. We’re giving it all we’ve got. In flamenco nothing can be done half-heartedly. It is this same with etnikafé. This concert is all about passion,” she sums it up.
Tickets for Etnikafé: Live in Mdina are available at Lm3.50 at St. James Cavalier and Anthony D’Amato in Valletta or at the door. Concerts begin at 8.30pm.
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