Music Spoken Here presents Empirical
The Marr’s Bar, 12 Pierpoint Street, Worcester WR1 1TA
Thursday 8th May 2025, 8pm doors / 8:30 start
Local promoter Music Spoken Here continues to bring the best in UK contemporary jazz to Worcester, with their next show featuring a band that has been a reference point for many in charting the last 20 years of British jazz.
Empirical exploded onto the UK jazz scene with the release of their debut album “Empirical” in 2007. Former Jazz Warrior, saxophonist Courtney Pine, who released the album on his Destin-e label and also featured on bass clarinet, declared Empirical at the time as “the most exciting new jazz to come out of the UK”. Indeed, the album was awarded Album of the Year (Jazzwise) and the band were awarded Best Jazz Ensemble in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards the following year (and again in 2016). Their follow up 2009 album “Out ‘n’ In” won the 2009 MOBO Jazz Album of the Year award.
The original line-up of Jay Phelps (trumpet), Nathaniel Facey (alto sax), Kit Downes (piano), Neil Charles (bass) and Shaney Forbes (drums) didn’t survive beyond the first album (Phelps and Downes left and Tom Farmer replaced the departing Charles on bass). By the release of their second album “Out ’n’ Out” (2009 on Naim), the core quartet comprised Facey, Forbes and Farmer joined by Lewis Wright on the vibraphone and remained constant up until their 2024 album “Wonder is the Beginning” on Whirlwind Records, which also featured previous Music Spoken Here performers Alex Hitchcock (with Resolution 88 in November 2022 and Dan Lockheart in September 2023) and Jason Rebello (with FNUK in January 2024).
With Wright since moving to the US, the “Wonder is the Beginning” tour, which brings Empirical to Worcester for the very first time, has seen a couple of different lineups, including guitarist David Preston (who brought his trio to The Marr’s Bar in February last year) and pianist Ivo Neame.
This performance will feature the vibraphone for the first time on the Music Spoken Here program, in the very capable hands of the young Kenny Wheeler prize winner Jonny Mansfield, along with the core members Tom Farmer and Nathaniel Facey. Due to other touring commitments, drummer Shaney Forbes will be replaced with Luke McCarthy for this performance. Doors open at 8pm and admission is ‘pay what you can’ on the door (suggested contribution £10-15), or free for Music Spoken Here club members. For more information, please visit the Music Spoken Here website.