“I believe music is subjective but when an artist I record or produce has the 'IT' factor I guess there's very little to add...”
Read review by Howard Keith
“Jean Pierre Zammit’s guitar playing is not just an exercise in technical flair, it also embraces melody and religious conviction too...”
Read review by Eric Montfort
“I am writing to say how Jean influenced me both as a guitarist and a person...”
Read review by Peter Borg
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Hello folks
Been very long since I've been in touch!! But there's a very good reason for this delay...let me tell you about it :)
In the beginning of August 09 I received a phone call from Howard(my producer from the 3 song mini disk I released).In it he asked me if I was interested to tour Australia with the band Tribali in April 10.Although I was caught by surprise with the news I accepted to think about it.I agreed to attend the next 3 gigs Tribali had booked so that I capture the band playing live.I was given the 2 cds the band released and I started to listen to them attentively.After a week of saturated listening I started to learn all the material..by ear!I went to see the 3 gigs and was left amazed by the power and energy the band produced and by the unstoppable dancing the large crowds was in.I was very impressed since that's nearly impossible to happen here in Malta.
So we had another meeting me and Howard but this time Peter Paul and Toni from the band attended too.I was very touched by their nice comments regarding my playing and musical attitude.We talked re the possibility of taking this further than just playing in the Blusefest in Australia and songwrite with them the new cd.I cant deny I was very much interested since I always songwrited my songs.Learning the songs wasn't easy since I needed to rely completely on my ear.But I learned the 2nd cd named The Elephants Of Lanka in 2/3 weeks.Another struggle was learning to play the electric sitar and the 'normal' sitar!!But since I'm very persistent in character I pushed forward and started to get some cool results.
In the beginning of October 09 I started to jam with the band.Took all my stuff and we started to jam.From the first chord strikes you could feel and hear that something special was starting to form.Then we had the confirmation that the bluesfest was 100% on so we started to learn the songs together.We had a big struggle to overcome which was having Peter Paul missing for 2 months since he went to India.But me,Toni (drums/percussions/samples) and Drinu(bass) did a great job.From time to time we had Grigal(digi) join us.But the hassles didn't stop there!I started to experience pain in my left hand which after a specialist's check up I learned I could go for a wrist operation to arrange tendons!But after doing some scans and tests all resulted negative!Thank God for that.
Australia came and was a blast!!We performed with some world reknown artists and got some incredible crowds attending and feedback.The cd signings and photos were the pinnacle of that unforgettable experience.Now we're back rehearsing for the Prodigy gig on the 30th April which we're opening for.Yes sometimes a musician passes through these great experiences but not by chance.The years of hard practice and big sacrifices will pay in the end.It was always my way of thinking and being..to practice with a serious professional attitude being ready for calls like these.
I still teach and still practice my instrumental stuff.But my main focus now is Tribali and my aim is to push this band to a higher level of musicality with my style and way of playing.I thank Howard for believing in me as being the right man for the job since this was a big tough task.Replacing someone which played 3 instruments and learning all that material in few months and going to play in one of the world's most reknown festivals wasn't a small thing.But with perseverence all can be achieved...and hopefully improved!!
Will be in touch soon.You can check my facebook for the photos of the Bluesfest.They're very cool!!
Jean
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