Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

With this blog entry, I hereby name this vessel 12 Points. God bless this website and all who sail in her! The candle has been burned at both ends to bring you this new site for our festival of young European jazz artists, and it now contains everything you need to know about our Dublin based pan European venture. I really hope you’ll have a good poke around, there is lots of music to discover here. I’m often asked how 12 Points came about, and as we’ve been building this new website, I’ve been reflecting on the journey so far. Like all good ideas, it’s a simple enough concept, but its one that we arrived at after lots of experimentation. Here in Ireland, we’re fond of quoting Beckett, especially when things are not going too well. “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” said the great playwright, and we had been failing better at jazz festivals for a long time before our first edition of 12 Points back in 2007. In these tempestuous times, when so many people are questioning the value of the “European Project”, its worth recalling that our modest project was itself a eurobaby, as the first festival only happened as a result of the Germany presidency of the EU, as part of a programme of events put together by The Goethe Institut in Dublin. Just as Ireland and the EU are still together, so too are 12 Points and The Goethe Institut, and on the occasion of their 50th anniversary in Ireland, I have written a think piece about 12 Points that you can read here. It also answers the burning question, why are we called 12 Points?