Out 'n' In

Out ‘n' In has been inspired by and is dedicated to the late Eric Dolphy. Eric Dolphy was born June 20th 1928 and died tragically young June 29th 1964. He worked with John Coltrane, documented on ‘Live at the Village Vanguard', Impulse! 1961, Ornette Coleman, as part of ‘Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation', Atlantic 1961 and Oliver Nelson on ‘The Blues and the Abstract Truth', Impulse! 1961.

As a leader, his brief recording career includes: ‘Far Cry' Prestige 1960, ‘Outward Bound', Prestige/New Jazz 1960, ‘Out There', Prestige/New Jazz 1960 and his seminal work: ‘Out To Lunch', Blue Note 1964.

Too Out To Be In

Dolphy was a relentless musician, tirelessly practicing new concepts and paths of expression. He continued the Jazz tradition but was uninhibited by it, bringing freedom and imagination into the Jazz language. His improvisations told stories, communicated through the strong vocal element in his performance. It was these ideas that have inspired us, and many others, into an in depth study of Dolphy's Music. No more so than on ‘Out to Lunch' are these concepts better documented. Each musician has space and freedom to express highly individual ideas, yet the ensemble maintains a strong relationship and solid internal logic. Each voice has incredible clarity despite being in constant dialogue - individual threads, continually influenced by what is happening around them. Dolphy and this revolutionary ensemble concept inspired us to create this project.

We aimed to bring these ideas into our own compositions and improvisations, through group study and performance In November 2008, Dolphy's would be 80th year, we were given the opportunity to pay tribute at the Barbican as part of the London Jazz Festival. We invited Vibraphonist Lewis Wright to join us in a performance of repertoire from ‘Out to Lunch'. Since then, Lewis became a member of the group and the project developed into a set of original compositions, now documented on ‘Out ‘n' In'.

"Empirical are a most impressive group of young musicians both on and off the bandstand. They approach all aspects of their art with a great passion in a scholarly fashion. What impresses even more on this occasion, is that they have (in a relatively short space of time) come up with a collection of fantastic original pieces that beautifully and reverently underscore their Eric Dolphy infusions - one of the great, too often unsung heros of the music and certainly a great influence on all of on the session.
...What more can I say guys... Dolphy and Donuts! It's a killer combination." Jason Yarde (Producer, Out ‘n' In)

In further tribute to Dolphy's multi-instrumentalism, we were honoured to invite bass clarinettist and tenor layer, Julian Siegel to be part of the recording session. Julian's ideas and passions were, and are, a constant inspiration.

Too In To Be Out

As a response to Dolphy's life and work, he composed six pieces, endeavouring to relate his concepts to our time and music.

Out But In is a direct response to the Dolphy composition, ‘Mrs Parker of KC', capturing the idea of ensemble freedom
and expression within a blues form.

So He Left was inspired by Dolphy's tenure with Charles Mingus' band, which was on and off between 1959 and 1964, this piece formalises some of the playful shifts in groove and structure typical of the Mingus band.

A Bitter End For A Tender Giant was written in memory of the tragedy of Dolphy's death. Whilst touring in Europe, Dolphy
collapsed into a diabetic coma, but was left untreated in hospital on the assumption that, as an African American Jazz musician,
he had overdosed on drugs. Dolphy had been clean his entire life. The coda is a prayer of thanks and respect.

Dolphyus Morphyus, named by our producer, Jason Yarde, is a through composed piece and incorporates Dolphy's ideas on Harmonic Symmetry, his ability to tell a story, and the sense of journey in his improvisations.

Syndicalism was inspired by the conversational nature of ‘Out to Lunch' and expresses the idea that together we are more powerful than the individual.

Bowden Out, the final composition, shows the development of the Jazz tradition and Dolphy's influence on modern day musicians.

Produced by Jason Yarde