Empirical: Connection review – uninhibited freedom from jazz innovators

(Cuneiform)Mobo winners Empirical continue on the upward path their first lineup embarked on eight years ago. The long-running UK band remains enthusiastically devoted to remaking jazz for a contemporary audience, and Connection – recorded for the adventurous American label Cuneiform – is a break from the group’s recent pattern of genre-bridging collaborations with guests. Alto saxist Nathaniel Facey’s vocalised sound and respect for Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, cou