PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED FOR 12 POINTS 2015!

Wed 15th - Sat 18th April Project Arts Centre, Dublin

TICKETS: Festival Pass €50 / Daily Tickets €15/12 / http://projectartscentre.ie/event/12-points-festival-2015/

4 days, 12 young cutting-edge acts from 12 different European countries and wildly diverse sounds, rebelling and reinerpreting any fixed notions of 'jazz'. This year marks the 9th year of 12 Points, which returns home to Dublin after a 2014 run in Sweden.

12 Points 2015 opens with Strasbourg's Auditive Connection; a band which excels in the deft interplay between vocalist, drummer, and intruigingly, cellist Anil Eralsan, who wields this traditionally classical instrument with a true improvisor's bow. The Norwegian Jazz scene is aways on the frontline, and fearless piano trio Moskus are keeping up, moving into the same orbit as other experimental trios such as The Bad Plus, The Necks and EST. Closing on Wednesday is Brussels groove-based band Stuff, who have a playful, loose style crammed full of references to contemporary electronic dance music, 70s soul, 90s hip hop and past/present/future beat.

On Thursday we get a glimpse of the jazz scene in Hungary, with the invigorating A.M.P Trio as an example of the energy and appetite for improv among Magyar jazz musicians. Berlin based pianist Elias Stemeseder, who has an impressive stint already under his belt as a side man, finally comes into his own as a solo performer and looks set to bloom. Finnish trio Virta create a big sound, delicately melding inventive electronic effects and atmospheric vocals.

Friday night opens with the UK's Laura Jurd Quartet, led by standout trumpeter Laura - think electric-Miles with a folkloric twist. Copenhagen's SVIN creake a sometimes dark drone of heavy riffs and detuned instruments, but then can break, gasping, into a fragile chamber melody. BRUUT! are the perfect Friday night finish with their sassy, sexy, superjazz from Ghent, mixing juicy boogaloo and fat rhythm and blues to create brutal jazz.

On Saturday Sweden's Black Dough mix Peter Brötzman-like skronk jazz with a punk-rock aesthetic creating a sound that is immersive and open. From Dublin, quintet Umbra have mature, cohesive writing from guitarist Chris Guilfoyle combining contemporary jazz like John Hollenbeck with the cyclical grooves of Aphex Twin. Closing the festival are the incredible Hildegard Lernt Fliegen, a Swiss group led by vocalist Andreas Schaerer. Schaerer has been described at 'a truly 21st Century jazz singer', and is a vaudevillian frontman who beguils his audience with beatboxing and surprising instrument mimicry.

The influence of 12 Points across the European jazz community is remarkable, with a strong contingent of music media and bookers attending each year to check out the line-up of emerging European jazz talent. The festival is programmed from an open call, with the final 12 acts being selected from nearly 500 entries this year.

12 points is supported by Jazz Senter, Culture Ireland, The Arts Council of Ireland, Music Town.