Disc of the day: 28-10-09
Picture: Garry Corbett
Empirical: Out ‘n’ In (Naim naimcd 139)
I got to hear this material in concert before I was really familiar with it on CD, and that was a great way to get to know it. However, if you haven’t had that chance, this is the next best thing, and a pretty fine thing it is.
The young British quartet of Nathaniel Facey (alto saxophone), Lewis Wright (vibes), Tom Farmer (double bass) and Shaney Forbes (drums) take the music and life of Eric Dolphy as inspiration and have really got to know the man and his music so well that they can internalise the influences and so be themselves while still paying tribute to him.
All four are searching, intellectual musicians, but they are not just about serious exploration – they also have a damn fine time. Just listen to those grinning drums, that bouyant bass, the brilliant vibe runs and crunchy chords, and the energy in the saxophone solos.
The writing is shared between Farmer and Facey, and there are two Dolphy tunes, Hat & Beard and Gazzelloni, too. Facey, especially, really has grown into an interesting composer with this material: try A Bitter End For A Tender Giant and Dolphyus Morphyus for size and you find generous and substantial writing, try So He Left, and you find concision and wit.
A bonus of the CD which we didn’t get in the live performance is the addition of Julian Siegel as guest on tenor saxophone and, all important for the Dolphy connection, bass clarinet.
His work on A Conversation and Another Conversation, especially his interaction with Facey, is in the zone and on the money and all those other ways of saying it’s just right (and then some). He gets co-composer credits there, too. But his work everywhere is superb: just try his clarinet solo on A Bitter End…
There is a great freshness about this band, not only in the instrumentation (vibes seems to leave so much space compared to piano), and not only in its constituent parts: it really is a cohesive and well-realised group sound. Long may they continue to develop it.
