12 Points Festival – Project Arts Centre – Opening Night – 15-04-15 – Review

The 12 Points Festival has run for the last 9 years, showcasing some of the best European Jazz bands. It is a travelling festival that finds a home somewhere in Europe every second year, but returns home to Dublin in-between. The festival was in Umeå last year and will travel to Valencia for the 10th edition of the festival next year. This year it returns home to where it all started; the Project Arts Centre. 

First up was Auditive Connection, a four piece from Strasbourg. The band contains drums, guitar, vocals and cello, and play a variety of sounds, varying between quiet, delicate moments and loud, brash sequences at a moments notice. Anil Eraslan plays cello with an unusual touch, sometimes plucking the strings and other times reverting to his bow. The band feed off vocalist Jeanne Barbeiri and use improvisation along with more structured periods.

Moskus are a three piece from Oslo. They feature piano, bass and drums, but take an unusual approach with the percussion taking centre stage. The piano and double bass often play simple, repetitive lines with the drum taking the focus. Drummer Peter Ajtai plays with wire scrubs, toy ducks and a wide variety of other props. They were the highlight of the night.

The wonderfully named STUFF are from Brussels and feature electric saxophone, drums, bass, turn tables and keyboards. Their sound varies and at times was reminiscent of 70’s funk bands, and at other times dabble with hip-hop, electronic and jazz.

The main thing you get with the 12 Points Festival is a few surprises. They’ve collected an interesting group of musicians from around Europe, so it’s not something you see or hear every day. These are exciting new bands who are worth exploring and with three 50 minute sets each night, it’s a lot of music for the price of your ticket! The Festival continues until Saturday at the Project Arts Centre.

12 Points Festival continues at the Project Arts Centre until the 18th of April