Born on a hunch in Dublin, back in 2007, 12 Points, the festival of young European jazz, has grown in size and ambitions, and will celebrate its 8th edition this April in Umea, Sweden; the 2014 EU Capital of Culture.
From Thursday 10th to Saturday 12th April, young musicians from all points on the European compass will make the journey to Northern Sweden’s regional capital. Playing music, making new friends, learning about culture in Sweden, meeting media and promoters, and participating in the daily Jazz Futures conference, are all part of the unique 12 Points experience.
12 Points is curated through an open call. From a record number of submissions for the 2014 festival, twelve colorful projects have been selected that paint a vivid picture of jazz in Europe, and what it means to be a young musician in 2014.
Stockholm’s Elin Larsson Group, Ghent’s LAB Trio, Amsterdam’s The More Socially Relevant Jazz Music Ensemble or Helsinki’s Herd, demonstrate the gravitational pull of jazz history, which has filtered down to these luminous young musicians and their capacity to excite an audience with swinging grooves and memorable soloists.
Other prospects emerge when Oslo’s Pixel, Aarhus’ Foyn Trio, Dublin’s Alarmist and Lucerne’s Schnellertollermeier take the stage, with music that embraces everything from math rock to Nordic pop, demonstrating a musical world which is becoming increasingly porous.
The place of Europe’s classical tradition in this brave new world is considered by Vienna’s Violet Spin and Warsaw’s Marcin Masecki, while improvisers like Parisiennes Five 38 and Oxford resident Alexander Hawkins exhibit that jazz has always been a place that values the abstract.
Umea is the place to be this April; a hotbed of dynamic young jazz acts at the 2014 12 Points festival; a celebration of young European jazz.
“The freshest, hottest sounds in jazz and contemporary experimental music.” - The Irish Times
“A four-day event hot wired into the changing dynamic of the contemporary European jazz scene.” - The Observer
From Thursday 10th to Saturday 12th April, young musicians from all points on the European compass will make the journey to Northern Sweden’s regional capital. Playing music, making new friends, learning about culture in Sweden, meeting media and promoters, and participating in the daily Jazz Futures conference, are all part of the unique 12 Points experience.
12 Points is curated through an open call. From a record number of submissions for the 2014 festival, twelve colorful projects have been selected that paint a vivid picture of jazz in Europe, and what it means to be a young musician in 2014.
Stockholm’s Elin Larsson Group, Ghent’s LAB Trio, Amsterdam’s The More Socially Relevant Jazz Music Ensemble or Helsinki’s Herd, demonstrate the gravitational pull of jazz history, which has filtered down to these luminous young musicians and their capacity to excite an audience with swinging grooves and memorable soloists.
Other prospects emerge when Oslo’s Pixel, Aarhus’ Foyn Trio, Dublin’s Alarmist and Lucerne’s Schnellertollermeier take the stage, with music that embraces everything from math rock to Nordic pop, demonstrating a musical world which is becoming increasingly porous.
The place of Europe’s classical tradition in this brave new world is considered by Vienna’s Violet Spin and Warsaw’s Marcin Masecki, while improvisers like Parisiennes Five 38 and Oxford resident Alexander Hawkins exhibit that jazz has always been a place that values the abstract.
Umea is the place to be this April; a hotbed of dynamic young jazz acts at the 2014 12 Points festival; a celebration of young European jazz.
“The freshest, hottest sounds in jazz and contemporary experimental music.” - The Irish Times
“A four-day event hot wired into the changing dynamic of the contemporary European jazz scene.” - The Observer
For more information contact All About Jazz.
