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Brit-jazz boy wonders Empirical impress their post-bop era principles in a 21st century context with an astounding maturity. Oh yeah, and they look good too.
Biography
Empirical's smart post-bop style has drawn admiring notices on both sides of the Atlantic. Their debut recording went on to be voted Jazzwise magazine's album of the year, and Mojo magazine's jazz album of the year. Expertly incorporating elements of classical, African and Cuban musical forms into its original, sophisticated, fresh-sounding jazz, Empirical make a point of not being centred around a specific front line or leader; it is very much a complete band, each member contributing equally, adding their own facets to the overall sound.
In May 2008, Empirical collected the Ensemble of the Year prize at the annual Parliamentary Jazz Awards, held at the House of Commons, and organised by the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group. This award was just the latest in a succession of accolades the band has picked up in its short lifetime: Empirical's award-winning assault on the jazz scene began at the North Sea Jazz Festival in July 2007 when they won the inaugural EBU/European Jazz Competition; this was followed later that year by the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award.
Empirical returned triumphant from their appearance at the iconic Newport Jazz Festival (Rhode Island, USA) last summer. During his introduction, Jason Olaine, vice president of programming for The Festival Network, acknowledged that it was no mean feat to receive a standing ovation at New York Jazz Festival, as Empirical did when they opened for The Bad Plus in June 2008; needless to say, their performance at Newport garnered another standing ovation. As well as their victorious return to the North Sea Jazz Festival, and their US sojourn, Empirical also performed at several other international jazz gatherings last year, including Canada's Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Montreal jazz festivals, receiving stand ovations at each.
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Audiophile Audition
"an ambitious and imaginative outpouring that is a compelling, creative and excellently constructed"
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California Chronicle
2009's Best Jazz Albums: "This album is tight, imaginative and heartfelt"
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ThisIsBooksMusic.com
"Explosive? This is the future of jazz now."
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Jazz Times
"Out ‘n' In is driven by a desire to further avant garde art and to keep it relatable to contemporary audiences."
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Buffalo News
"picks up in places where Dolphy left off."
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Northern Echo
"a wonderful combination of control and looseness"
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Echoes
"Empirical have managed to tackle one of the most advanced minds in the jazz canon and grow organically from it is emphatic testimony to a daring and maturity that can only bode well for the future."
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All About Jazz
"a momentous album, great in itself and promising even greater things to come."
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The Observer
"Empirical catch the distinctive flavour of [Dolphy's] work beautifully"
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Jazz Mann
"an excelllent record...there is clearly much more to come from these excellent musicians"
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Vortex Jazz
"overall, this is an intense, poised but always approachable album. Recommended"
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Jazz Journal
"Empirical come out strongly, with some genuinely thoughtful and innovative charts and comme il faut playing"
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Coventry Telegraph
"Their style remains distinctive, but they have the courage to make a complete shift of emphasis in terms of their compositional direction. They succeed with a boundless finesse."
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Independent on Sunday
"an impressively out-there sound"
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The Times
"gorgeous"
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Financial Times
"a fresh faced knockout"
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Evening Standard
"intelligent, spacey music with absorbing solos"
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The Guardian
"full of sparky variety...excellent"
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BBC Music Magazine
"expertly sequenced with a fine sensibility for the music...as close to taking the band home as it gets"
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Jazz Breakfast
"one of the most skilled bands in the country."
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The Scotsman
"a spirited tribute to Eric Dolphy...[Empirical] rise to the challenge in engaged and inventive fashionm"
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Jazzwise
"graceful...dramatic and subtle...a daring maturity that can only bode well for the future"
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Record Collector
"imaginative renderings of two classic Dolphy numbers, [but] what's really striking are the nine original tunes"
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City Life
"The group's own identity remains elusive on what sounds like a great, lost album by Eric Dolphy. "
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Birmingham Post
"Hear how music can be rooted in the tradition of 45 years ago and still sound like the sound of tomorrow."
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Daily Telegraph
"the coolest of Britian's young jazz bands"
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Mojo
[Empirical] continue to astonish with their spirit and skill"
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