Gig review: Empirical

Published on Tuesday 17 November 2009 18:00

EMPIRICAL *** REDROOMS, PERTH THEATRE

THE current quartet version of Empirical is a rather different beast to the quintet which established the London-based band as one of the most promising new outfits to emerge on the UK jazz scene in the past decade.

If their overall approach seems less high-energy, the decision to bring in vibes player Lewis Wright rather than directly replace the previous trumpeter and pianist with like-for-like instrumentalists seems a good one. Wright's intelligent soloing was consistently impressive, and his vibes brought an intriguing range of colour and texture to the ensemble sound.

This was the final night of a short Scottish tour, and the band focused on the music from their recent CD, inspired by the example of Eric Dolphy. The fractured, stop-and-go melody lines, piquant harmonies and vibrant rhythms of the two actual Dolphy tunes they played, the opening Hat and Beard and Gazzelloni in the second set, served as a reference-cum-template for their own tunes, cut to Dolphy's measure.

Drummer and co-founder Shane Forbes, alto saxophonist Nathanial Facey and bassist Tom Farmer complete the current line-up, and the latter two players provided the compositions. There was no doubting the commitment they brought to the music, and their new pieces seemed to grow naturally from absorbing Dolphy's ground-breaking precedents.

Facey's reliance only on the rather astringent alto became a little one-dimensional over the set, and a Dolphy-style variation of horns (bass clarinet and flute were his regular alternatives) would have been welcome.