Label: Blue Note Records, 2022

Personnel - Immanuel Wilkins: alto saxophone; Micah Thomas; piano; Daryl Johns: bass; Kweku Sumbry: drums + Elena Pinderhughes: flute (#5, 6)

The impressive saxophonist/composer Immanuel Wilkins has given proof of immense talent. On The 7th Hand, the follow up to his admired debut Omega, he takes a bright quartet - with Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass and Kweku Sumbry on drums - under his leadership, presenting seven cuts that unfold with masterful strokes.

“Emanation” starts off this journey with a perfect blend of relaxation and tension, melody and harmony, all tied up in a rhythmic mesh that disorients and captivates. Wilkins’ phenomenal soloing capabilities stand out with infinite inside/outside trajectories and a fervent expression imbued with speed and articulation. He's followed by Thomas, whose sometimes earnest, sometimes soaring pianism goes from modal to dreamy to effusively cascading and contorted.

Working like a suite, the album takes us immediately to “Don’t Break”, which celebrates his friendship with Sumbry; the irrepressible percussion of the Farafina Kan Percussion Ensemble propels it with gusto. From here, we are taken to the waltzing ballad “Fugitive Ritual, Selah”, a slightly gospelized hymn to Black spaces, introduced by an unpretentious bass statement and vamped with a recurrent riff at the center. Sumbry drives it delicately with brushes before installing a relaxed beat progressively stirred by syncopation.

“Shadow” and “Witness” are somewhat circular in their approach, probing more curvilinear than angular shapes. The former, also displaying a specific riff at its heart, is the closest to minimalism we can get here, while the latter has an excellent spot for guest flutist Elena Pinderhughes. It lands on a resolved, if revelatory, final section. Pinderhughes is also featured on “Lighthouse”, where her cerebral melodic conduction diverges from Wilkins’ tightly coiled improvisation. The bandleader strolls exuberantly in a passage of rare swinging ecstasy, and the piece ends up on a cyclic path with beautiful melody and intriguing drumming.

Played live and free, the concluding seventh movement, “Lift”, offers us 26+ epic minutes of prayerful avant-garde jazz in the line of Coltrane/McCoy, becoming a kind of 21st-century A Love Supreme. There’s polyrhythmic intention in the way Wilkins blows atop of Thomas’ harmonic jabs; meanwhile, insistent bass intervals and drum chops with cymbal color flow underneath. The next section is slightly ominous, presenting the dark-toned alto as a droning element together with chiaroscuro piano attacks. After a brief passage marked by tensile bass work, whirling piano, and rapid-fire snare drum, Wilkins reaches high up into his upper register and reinforces his clamor with fiery detail.

The 7th Hand strikes with the force of a comet and wows, whether through abrasive sections built with consummate torrents of sound or conciliatory moments of simplicity and restraint.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Emanation ► 06 - Lighthouse ► 07 - Lift

Label: Blue Note Records, 2020

Personnel - Immanuel Wilkins: alto saxophone; Micah Thomas: piano; Daryl Johns: bass; Kweku Sumbry: drums.

Immanuel Wilkins was born to be a jazz star. The 23-year-old alto saxophonist/composer does not just deliver powerful personal music with the force of Coltrane and the progressive perception of Ornette, he also focuses on a fundamental message in his attempt to channel the Black experience in America through his sound. Omega, his majestic debut album, was produced by pianist Jason Moran and features a promising young rhythm team consisting of Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums.

The opening title, “Warriors”, is weaved with polyrhythmic complexity, denoting a swinging undertow that drags us in. Thomas’ amply rhythmic pianism cuts across the piece, whether in the form of individual statement or as a support for Wilkins’ vertiginous expansions. The saxophonist composed this one in honor of friendship, family and community.

A totally different ambiance is offered in related cuts such as “Ferguson - An American Tradition” and “Mary Turner - An American Tradition”, both quivering anxiety and despair pertaining to the tragic events addressed. The former, crafted with a forward thrust and pinpoint detail, reconstructs in reverse the 2014 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white cop in Ferguson. Wilkins speaks volumes as he infuses the scenario with long, penetrating cries drowned in emotion. The latter piece, alluding to the 1918 lynchings in Georgia, emerges amorphously and minimally, and then presents a section where the saxophonist spills heart and grief over percussion. The addition of piano sets a widespread turmoil that busts into the avant-garde jazz department.

This freer posture also comes into view on “Guarded Heart”, the fourth and last part of a suite written in 2013, and where the fervency and tartness of Wilkins’ horn suits well the elasticity of his compositional style. The other parts of this sequence are “The Key”, which provides a softly textured opening; “Saudade”, an infectious, pulsating expedition that counterbalances tender and busy passages; and the eloquently expressed “Eulogy”, which keeps a pounding rhythm running in the background.

Written for James Weldon Johnson and kicking off with Johns’ bass at the center, “The Dreamer” is the ballad of the record. However, it’s the ardent spiritual force conveyed by “Omega”, the act of candor that closes out the album, that awes the most. Sumbry’s drum work is amazing and Thomas’ multifaceted harmonization spills, at once, rigor and freedom. The pianist embarks on a free conversation with Wilkins, and both musicians demonstrate their distinct subtleties and common passions.

Breaking traditional harmonic and rhythmic patterns, Wilkins is a giant newcomer whose poise and musical maturity are beyond his years.