12 Points Plus Artists

Long form grooving from France's MeTaL-O-PhOnE with the brilliant innovations of Benjamin Flament, taking the vibraphone into exciting new terrain that evokes its roots in West African blues and Javanese gamelan. Slovenian pianist Kaja Draksler is the breakthrough artist of 12 Points 2011, her lyrical compositions shaded with colours of the Eastern Med, and played by a quintet of Amsterdam based players who have a very empathic on stage rapport. Saxophone, voice and drums are the base elements of the Finnish trio Elifantree, making liberated music that defies easy categorization, with feet planted defiantly in both the jazz and rock camps.

French pianist Eve Risser and Japanese drummer Yuko Oshima are Donkey Monkey, an unpredictable creature that sometimes breaks into song, likes to subvert jazz convention, and is especially fond of stride piano grooves and big beats from the Japanese rock scene. Performing solo, Norwegian singer Mari Kvien Brunvoll captivates with a personal expression that straddles jazz, electro pop and acoustic blues, and makes use of loops and thumb pianos to add detail to an intimate, soulful soundworld. Leeds standard bearers Trio VD are confrontational, uninhibited and clever, their use of volatile materials is invigorating and their demonic humour is catching.