Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say |
| 2. Yin & Yang |
| 3. In The Grill |
| 4. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind Part 1 |
| 5. Cosmos (For Carl Sagan) |
| 6. Simple Things |
| 7. An Ambiguous State Of Mind |
| 8. The Element Of Truth |
| 9. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind Part 2 |
| 10. Spitting Them Out (CD Exclusive Bonus) |
Product Description
Review
Operating as a core quartet of Wright on vibes and glockenspiel, double-bassist Tom Farmer, alto saxophonist Nathaniel Facey and drummer Shaney Forbes – plus special guest and long-time collaborator George Fogel on piano – Empirical have made a decisive move away from swinging jazz and closer to the kind of cerebral groove first outlined in New York in the late-80s/early-90s. In a way, it was inevitable they should follow this route: it’s an aesthetic that has continued to inspire young jazz musicians on both sides of the Atlantic just as much as those 60s recordings that first got Empirical fired-up.
Opener Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say centres around a circular vibes figure, launching into a zesty math-funk not dissimilar to the recent output of Chicago’s minimalist-influenced Claudia Quintet. But it’s on tracks like In the Grill that the most obvious influence is heard, with jerky, fractured drums and Facey’s frenetic yet precise alto recalling the 80s experiments of M-Base artists such as Steve Coleman. There are other, more meditative moods at work, too – largely thanks to the diaphanous sonorities generated by the combination of piano and vibes. Cosmos (For Carl Sagan) makes a brief return to a Dolphy-ish limp before jettisoning into a spectral space walk, like Morton Feldman on an interstellar vacation.
Empirical are crashing irresistibly through the decades. Next stop, 21st century. --Daniel Spicer
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Record Collector
"new, ethereal and shimmering and deserving of the highest praise...my record of the year"
"contains the pretty and positively terrifying Albert Ayler goes horror vibe"
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
All these things and many more appear on this album, with all new compositions from the band members - 7 from Tom Farmer, 2 from Nathaniel Facey. While Facey might appear to be the band leader and his Sax is given a lot of time up-front in the mix; it is Wright's Vibraphone that catches the ear, with strange effects, beautiful and unusual harmonies, lush chords. At times piano and vibraphone duet and it is like modern chamber music.
Empirical's first album was truly stunning and appeared to come out of nowhere. Their second album was more dissonant, but also more familiar - being a tribute to Eric Dolphy. Now they have moved on to more modern territory - maybe with influences from 1990s Jazz in the US. Steve Coleman and M-Base,perhaps? Tom Farmer mentions in interviews how he is influenced by Vijay Iyer - but this is really only a starting point for the group. Farmer is providing structures, but a lot of the time, these lead on to "Free" improvising. Much in the way that Wayne Shorter's current quartet does.
It is the unique sound of this band and how they have had the opportunity to play together a lot, that shapes this album. George Fogel is a guest, but fits very well into the sound world created here - working very well with vibes. Individual tracks doen't necessarily stand out - any one could be taken as an example of what the band are doing and each stands in its own right as a statement, with elements of melody, sophisticated rhythmic structures and unusual harmonies from the vibes/piano combination. I would single out Tom Farmer for his bass playing - very definite and full sound - every note sounds exactly right.
Most commercial tune is "Out of Sight out of Mind" which is split, so it fittingly ends the album with a short reprise. If anybody wants to know if Jazz in Britain has a future or where it is currently - just play them this album. A must-have album and definite contender for best British Jazz album of the year!
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
