Empirical - bringing wonder with 'Wonder Is The Beginning'

One of my favourite contemporary jazz groups - Empirical - has a new album out. Wonder is the Beginning brings the award-winning quartet back with the sound of hard-working young men who know their jazz.

Since the four - Nathaniel Facey (alto sax), Tom Farmer (double bass), Lewis Wright (vibraphone) and Shaney Forbes (drums) came together more than 15 years ago, they have brought an intensity and quality of jazz composition and improvisation that makes those awards richly-deserved. There is a maturity to their work together that shows how well they all work together.

For Wonder is the Beginning, Empirical have imported two more of the stalwarts of the UK jazz scene in the shape and sound of Alex Hitchcock (tenor sax) and Jason Rebello (piano).

If jazz is defined by the familiar and also the new, that definition is writ large across Wonder Is The Beginning.

The seven tracks bring these six musicians together in a way that is still Empirical - but more so. The compositions themselves are artful and considered, while the improvisations bring the individuality of the artists to the fore.

Outstanding track She Moves takes a waltz theme that has a sparsity that allows Rebello particularly to open up a contrapuntal rhythmic drive before the vibes of Wright take over the improvisation. For a real taste of what these six musicians do best, watch the video performance of The Naitoku and see how these guys perform together.

Wonder is the Beginning is a wonderful, playful but intense declaration of a jazz life that all these musicians share.