Gerry Godley of the Improvised Music Company receiving the award

The 12 Points festival is an annual jazz festival that alternates between Dublin and other European cities. Founded and directed by Gerry Godley of the Improvised Music Company, Dublin, with support from the Goethe Institut, 12 Points is making a map of jazz across the European stage, bringing in diverse improvised music acts through the method of discovering and promoting just twelve bands from across the continent. It aims to be the springboard from which these twelve ensembles make the leap from local to international success, effectively forging young potential into talent of the highest calibre.

This innovative structure, and the festival’s pan-European ethos, has led to it being awarded the very first Europe Jazz Network award for ‘Adventurous Programming’ at the Jazzahead!  Expo in Germany. The Europe Jazz Network (EJN) is an association that includes over 80 organisations, promoters and presenters, whose mission is to support jazz in Europe as a medium for international dialogue and cross-cultural communication. Recognising their shared ambitions towards creating this pan-European musical language, the EJN came to their decision unanimously. Godley attributes the win to “believing in a generation of young artists”.

The next 12 Points festival will take place on 13–16 February 2013 in Dublin and is now accepting applications from emerging jazz artists through the website below. The festival also runs an ongoing 12 Points Plus project, in which three acts are selected from the festival’s programme and showcased at other festivals and venues over the next two years. The three acts from this year’s festival in Porto are the Parisian collective Actuum, UK band WorldService Project, and Finnish quartet Big Blue, who will each participate in 12 Points Plus until 2014.

12points.ie