A decade into its present incarnation, British quartet Empirical continue to hold true to the values of Ornette, Coltrane, and the 1960s avant-garde – and to the principle, declared on their website, that they treat jazz “as a search rather than a destination”. This half-hour EP is a crisp summation of how skilful, soulful and thoughtful this fine ensemble continues to be, how committed they are to the ever-fruitful potential of improv-inspired acoustic music-making, and how imaginative they have become as composers. Bassist Tom Farmer’s ‘Non Verbal Language’ is a terrific piece of up-tempo, interval-hopping avant-bop, with a tightly-nailed and gracefully phrased Nathaniel Facey alto solo bursting out of the traps over a fast-walking bassline and Shaney Forbes’ light-touch drums groove, pursued by a similarly surefooted vibes solo from Lewis Wright. The latter’s ‘Persephone’ opens on a rhythmically glimmering soprano sax melody against his own glowing vibes chords, and develops as an alto improvisation in which Facey sensitively uses the composition’s spaciousness and the changing textures around him in a patiently-paced solo. Forbes’ ‘Jebel Barkal (Coronation)’ is a delicate percussion rumination, the title-track a group-developed tone poem, and the closing ‘Celestial Being’ a repeating Coltrane-esque chordal vamp pitching and rolling on Forbes’ Elvin-like tide. Fine original music, with exemplary improvisational craft to express it.