Empirical

“Elements of Truth”

(Naim Jazz naimcd 168)

Empirical have changed immeasurably since their attention grabbing début album featuring the now departed trio of trumpeter Jay Phelps, pianist Kit Downes and bassist Neil Charles. Now with a stable quartet line up featuring founding members Nathaniel Facey (alto sax) and Shaney Forbes (drums) plus Tom Farmer (double bass) and Lewis Wright (vibes) the award winning group are back with their third album “Elements Of Truth”, a worthy follow up to their acclaimed Eric Dolphy inspired release “Out ‘n’ In”.

“Elements Of Truth” combines the episodic writing of their début with the Dolphy inspired abstractions of “Out ‘n’ In” to produce a distinctive recording on which bassist Tom Farmer emerges as the main compositional voice. He contributes seven of the ten pieces with Facey weighing in with a further two and with Lewis Wright supplying the title track. Guest pianist George Fogel is featured extensively and his presence gives the new record a less claustrophobic sound than its predecessor.

The album commences with Farmer’s atmospheric “Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say”,  a piece inspired by the unlikely triumvirate of Oliver Messiaen, Steve Lehman and Vijay Iyer. A ghostly opening section featuring subliminal voices and the other worldly shimmer of Wright’s vibes leads into an intricate, densely knit piece with alto, vibes and piano jostling for supremacy. There are no extended solos but each of the three front line instruments enjoys brief prominence as Farmer and Forbes stoke the often complex rhythmic fires. 

As the title might suggest Facey’s “Yin and Yang” is a two part composition with Fogel’s gothic piano intro quickly ceding to Farmer’s propulsive bass figure which in turn provides the backbone for the composer’s incisive alto explorations. The second half of the piece is more impressionistic and is centred around Wright’s vibes, Facey’s alto, and Forbes atmospheric and colourful drumming.
It’s a mature and imaginative piece of writing.

Also by Facey “In The Grill” (the phrase is actually a boxing reference) is fiendishly complex and represents a celebration of spatial awareness. The composer solos with bravado above the switchback rhythms and textures created by vibes, piano, bass and drums. You feel like you’ve gone fifteen rounds just listening to it. Collectively Empirical possess huge technical abilities and are not afraid to show them off. That sense of “going for it” is also inherent in the title.

Farmer’s “Out Of Sight Out Of Mind Part 1” employs a similar structure to his opening tune with another ghostly introduction, this time featuring bowed vibes and interior piano scrapings, that eventually gives way to a more conventionally structured and by, Empirical’s standards, relatively uncluttered second half centred around Facey’s long alto lines.

Farmer dedicates “Cosmos” to TV astronomer and physicist Carl Sagan and the piece includes a suitably spacey middle section bookended by a Monkish main theme. Facey really digs in on alto in the closing section with a searing Dolphy-like solo before the delicate coda.

Empirical’s influences are wide with Farmer naming Bjork as an inspiration for “Simple Things”, a piece with more of a song like structure than much of their other work. Forbes’ hip hop inspired drumming gives the tune a thoroughly contemporary feel but the music is far more complex than the title might suggest as Wright and Fogel weave their way in and out of a piece structured around Facey’s repetitive sax phrasing.

There are more contemporary grooves on “An Ambiguous State Of Mind”, inspired by the methods of pianist Vijay Iyer and written By Farmer as a feature for Fogel. The guest pianist impresses with a leaping, exuberant solo but there is also garrulous sax from Facey and dynamic drumming from the excellent Forbes.

“The Element Of Truth”, effectively the title track, represents the first Lewis Wright composition to be recorded by the band.  The piece exhibits a deliberate dream like quality with Facey’s sax musings underlaid by subtly shifting rhythmic pulses with Forbes again particularly impressive.

Farmer’s “Out Of Sight Out Of Mind Part 2” is a more energetic affair than “Part 1”, briefly swimming into focus with Facey’s alto sax to the fore amidst a maelstrom of swirling vibes and busy drumming. It all fades out rather abruptly with Facey still in full flow and seems to be little more than a snapshot.

My review copy also includes the bonus track “Spitting Them Out”, another Farmer composition but one that differs significantly from the rest of the album. This shows the four piece Empirical in full on, heads down bebop mode with dazzling solos from Wright, Facey and Forbes. It’s a very welcome addition and its comparative simplicity contrasts well with the densely knit, often cerebral music to be heard elsewhere.

“Elements Of Truth” displays clear signs of Empirical’s continuing artistic development on a series of intriguing compositions. There are few conventional jazz solos, the approach is very much one of collective improvisation on what are often very complex themes. Nonetheless the individual contributions are superb with Fogel so fully integrated that he can almost be considered a fifth member. Perhaps the band still wear their influences a little too much on their sleeves, besides the names mentioned above Andrew Hill, Wayne Shorter and Branford Marsalis are also name checked by the band as influences. The layered complexities of the music have also evoked valid comparisons with the Claudia Quintet and I’d also suggest that the music of Steve Coleman and the M Base crowd also exerts a considerable influence. For all that these boys can play and are certainly not bashful about showing off their chops on this demanding but ultimately invigorating music. Empirical continue to progress and their dates on a short British tour, with Fogel guesting on piano,  should be well worth seeing. 

Tour dates;

14/01/2012 Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton

21/01/2012 Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester

10/02/2012 Royal Welsh College of Music, Cardiff    

   

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