21 September 2009
Jazzwise
Kevin La Gendre


As a point of departure for any musical project Eric Dolphy is a great double-edged sword. His highly idiosyncratic language is, firstly, inspiring yet, secondly not at all easy to penetrate and create from. Empirical have risen to the challenge impressively through taking the long view above all else, for while the most salient reference of Out n In is the 1964 masterpiece Out To Lunch, it is not the only data that the band seem to have absorbed, and the Prestige recordings that preceded it, above all, Far Cry and Outward Bound, also appear to feed right into the creative engine. Apart from his great ingenuity and technique, Dolphy touched profound emotions, often evoking an enormous amount of melancholy in some of his work and the sense of freshness in Empirical's take on him can be ascribed to a certain extent to the way that those two aspects have come together in a coherent ‘freebop', something that they hinted at on their eponymous 2007 debut. Bassist Farmer and alto saxophonist Facey emerge as composers with a sharp focus, finding a good balance between fractious, juddering meter and twisted and twisting themes that often straighten into graceful motifs. Then again the whole has also understood that ensemble dynamics were also central to Dolphy's work despite the towering personality of the leader, and for all the moments of guile shown by Facey and Siegel's horns it is the seamlessness with which the leadership shifts to Forbes' drums or Farmers' bass that catches the ear. The changes in the sound canvas are both dramatic and subtle. That 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.