12 Points Plus at the 53rd Ljubljana Jazz Festival

There were good audiences for all bands, especially so for Kaja Draksler Acropolis Quintet which helped create a really nice vibe in the 250 seated venue. Vocalist Anni Elif Egecioglu built an instant rapport with the audience, drawing them in from the off, partly due to a technical glitch at the start of their set, but more to do with their intriguing and gutsy trio sound with strong vocals, catchy saxophone and synth motifs winning over the audience easily. I don’t say that lightly because, quite often there is no precedent for these relatively new 12 Points artists from an audience perspective. A large part of the audiences attend these shows speculatively; they are largely unaware of the artist’s material before attending, and have likely never heard a live performance by them, so winning over an audience in the space of 45 minutes is no small feat. But this is at the heart of music discovery and probably a discussion for another blog post. In any case, kudos to all audiences who are willing to come out to hear new artists.

We must also extend a heartfelt thanks to the festival production team, headed up by Gregor Karpov, who were exceptional across aspects of the production and made the artists Ljubljana experience a memorable one.

Post event, Ms. Draksler, acting as our Ljubljana host & impromptu tour guide gave us a late night tour of the city, winding our way through the pedestrianized streets of the old town, past City Hall, along the river, finally culminating in a climb to Ljubljana castle which towers over the surrounding city with beautiful views below of the Ljubljanica river which flows through the heart of the old town, and the Alps silently cutting a large shadow to the west.

Ljubljana is a more a large town than a small city with about 300,000 inhabitants.

If you can handle the heat (33 degrees+ in peak summer months!), it’s a real ramblers city, and though small, I’m confident that there has to be a café for every day of the year, where you can watch the world amble along while you grab a slice of shade.

Be sure also to pay a visit to Repete, a groovy jazz & soul bar, with first-class food. Tell Ljubo 12 Points said hi!

Stay tuned for some video interviews with the artists, which we will have for you shortly.

Next stop for 12 Points Plus is jazzclub Unterfahrt in Munich Germany on Oct 6^th. If you live in Munich or are a bus or train ride away, be sure to check it out!

Unterfahrt is a wonderful jazz club with a rich heritage and we are going back for round 2 of 12 Points Plus which will feature MeTaL-O-pHoNe, Kaja Draksler Acropolis Quintet & Elifantree, Unterfahrt having previously hosted inaugural 12 Points Plus advocates Mari Kvien Brunvoll, Donkey Monkey and trioVD in 2011.