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Shaney Forbes - Empirical
www.myspace.com/empiricalmusic
Shaney Forbes is a young British rising star, currently turning heads
with his phenomenal drumming for the award-winning jazz quintet Empirical.
Empirical is the most exciting jazz band to come out of the UK¹ so says the mighty Courtney Pine, who recently released the band¹s debut album on his Destin-E Records label. According to more than one Jazzwise journo, the eponymously titled debut is British album of the year. Shaney was the recent recipient of one of three scholarship prizes for new jazz talent, sponsored by the UK radio station TheJazz.
Shaney Forbes received his first percussion lesson at the age of 12, going on to perform throughout London with his school¹s dance band; he also toured the USA and Canada with the band. At the Centre For Young Musicians in London, Shane learned a wide variety of percussion instruments including the orchestral snare drum, bass drum, timpani, marimba and xylophone, before going on to study at Trinity College of Music in Greenwich.
A former key member of Tomorrow¹s Warriors (the organisation founded in 1992 by bassist Gary Crosby to nurture and develop talented young jazz musicians), Shaney's intuitive creativity and driving, fluid execution provide an irresistible, synergetic energy for other players to bounce off.
Shaney has also worked with ex-Jazz Messenger Jean Toussaint, Mike Carr, Abram Wilson, Soweto Kinch, Billy Jenkins, Nu Troop, Dennis Rollins, Claire Martin, Renato D'aiello and Julian Joseph.
Empirical is dedicated to maintaining the roots of traditional modern Jazz but has a definite finger on the pulse of the contemporary world. The quintet has just won the inaugural EBU/European Jazz competition, beating four other European bands. The jury consisted of legendary Blue Note pianist Kenny Werner, the executive director of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) Bill McFarlin, Anniken Sunde and Peter Bürli, jazz producers from Norway and Switzerland respectively, and Dutch bass player Hein van der Geyn.
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