Ninu Gatt Ir-Rajsu
Ninu Gatt Ir-Rajsu
is a renowned improvised verse folk singer. He was born on the 20th February 1947 and hails from Żebbuġ. He grew up in Triq l-Anġli, close to the Angels' Chapel where his parents, both from Żebbuġ lived. His father was from the Tal-Lekkuku family, his mother from Tar-Randan.
He is quite unsure about the real origin of his nickname Ir-Rajsu, but remembers that he was called so when still a child by his grandmother, upset that he had just walked on her wet floor. Hence she exclaimed Qisek ir-rajsu tgħaffeġ, which literally translates 'You walk across the floors just like a captain.' derived from the Maltese word 'rajjes', a captain or leader.
Gatt didn't have any relatives who folksang, nor was be brought up following għana. It all started by coincidence. As a young twenty-year old he didn't own a car, but one of his friends from Żebbuġ did. When the weekends came, it happened that he was constantly outnumbered three to one by his friends who opted to go down to Żejtun to attend to a folk music session, rather than frequent the bright lights of Valletta, the capital.
These were the late 1960s when a folk session in Żejtun at venues like Ġolin Ta' Kostanza, Menu Abela or Żaren Mangion Il-Folfol would have featured the cream of improvised verse folksingers, Pawlu Seychell l-Għannej, Ninu Galea l-Kalora, Pawlu Degabriele l-Bies, Żaru Mifsud Il-Għaxqi and Salvu Darmanin Ir-Ruġel. It is a line up that young folk enthusiasts can only dream of.
On one occasion Ninu and his friend visited Żejtun their regular dose of għana, only to discover that the event had been cancelled due to the town being in mourning. There and then they headed off to Għar Lapsi for a traditional rabbit meal, where fuelled with Maltese wine downed with the meal they started folk singing, albeit without guitar music.
This was the moment that Gatt realized that he had folk music within him, where with more wine helpings his improvised verse improved and he shed his inhibitions. The next day, his friends called on him, impressed by his capacity to folk sing.
Around 1973 there happened to be a folk music event at their local Labour Party club and as soon as the folksingers where gathering to begin, one of Ninu's friends approached Ninu Galea l-Kalora and told him Here's a good folk singer, while pointing at Gatt.
Kalora called him over to join the assembled four, including Żeppi Ellul ta' Fellusu, Żeppi Meli ta' Sika and Pawlu Seychell l-Għannej. In għana terms this meant that the session now had an uneven number, which was quite a rare occurrence that happened usually when someone didn't turn up. There was an additional risk, that of trying an untried singer. Yet Kalora knew that the enthusiast that had urged him to take notice was a known face at folk events and therefore a good ear as well.
He is one of the most renowned folksingers who is currently inactive.