Bimhuis
12 Points Festival
Amsterdam, Netherlands
September 25-28, 2019

Jazz, as a diverse and heterogeneous field by nature, is represented at each 12 Points edition by young musicians and groups (age 35) with a strong artistic profile and solid and attractive performance capabilities. The festival represents in a nutshell what the next generation is willing and able to contribute. The emphasis is not so much on assumed audience compatibility/acceptability but rather on originality, artistic challenge, strong identity and quality of audience connectivity.

Selection and indication

The program selection of 12 Points Festival organized by Irish Improvised Music Company aims at giving an indication about what's next, what might be strong groups in the near future based on a clear concept of artistic identity/ development, an observation of young musicians/groups from all over Europe, a vast network of informants and an application process. 12 Points, which is a residential festival, a kind of camp for young up-and-coming musicians/groups from 12 European countries, is considered to be an important junction on the way to enter prestigious European festivals and clubs (for earlier editions see my review here (2014) and here (2017).

The aim of 12Points is that presenters read this, check the groups and musicians, listen to and watch their music, keep in mind their names and seriously consider building programs with some of those included (for good reasons). This year's 12 participants came from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Poland, United Kingdom (2). For the first time the guesting country/venue added a line of five domestic showcases, the Orange Line. Striking here was the extremely high proportion of musicians of non-Dutch origin, some groups even comprising no musicians of Dutch origin at all. This can only partly be ascribed to the open international tradition of the Dutch scene.

The selection/choice is not meant as representative but as indicative, as mentioned. Looking at the choice of the last nine editions, this is what it shows in terms of countries musicians/groups were coming from: (1) Represented in all 9 editions since 2011: France, Norway, UK, Ireland

• Represented in almost all editions since 2011: Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden
• Represented in 4 or 5 of the 9 editions: Germany, Finland, Italy, Portugal
• Represented in less than 4 editions and more than 1: Poland, Slovenia, Spain
• Represented in one edition: Bosnia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia

This shows a clear dual division, a weak representation of the Baltic area and the Balkan, a harsh imbalance between center and periphery (except Ireland, Norway) and the complete absence of a series of countries. Also, one of the richest scenes of Europe, Berlin, is hardly present and Cologne is absent at all. Except for France and UK, it is smaller countries that seem to take the lead.

Trend

Two striking things were discernible during the four days of this year's 12Points: first, this young generation plays more for its own generation's ears, modes and moods. Second, this young generation works easily 'cross-sectional,' which means the musicians adapt a diversity of approaches, techniques and influences to feed those into their own new shapeshifting forms or in hybrid framings of ambient, classical, pop, rock, techno, hip-hop and actionist agit-prop.

Highlights

For me the four days/nights of 12Points, including the Dutch Orange Line, had four highlights: Trio Heinz Herbert from Switzerland, No Tongues from France,