Coming up in the Philadelphia area, Immanuel Wilkins got his musical training not only in jazz circles but also at the Prayer Chapel Church of God, where he played piano. The active feedback loop of a worship service, with its pulsating cycles of call and response, remained a vivid sense memory for Wilkins as he moved on to some elite institutions - notably the Juilliard School, from which he graduated in 2019, and Blue Note Records, which released his debut album, Omega, the following year.
The 7th Hand, his second album for the label, synthesizes lessons learned at the altar and on the bandstand, with a keen awareness of African American cultural history. “I was thinking a lot about being a vessel,” Wilkins told Shaun Brady of the Philadelphia Inquirer several days before this album-release concert in his hometown. “About getting into a super Zen space where it feels like you’re not the one making the music. I wanted to write a body of work that triggered that experience.”
Working with his superbly intuitive band - Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass, Kweku Sumbry on drums - Wilkins delivered on that promise at PhilaMOCA late last month. Presented by Ars Nova Workshop in partnership with WRTI, the concert felt like a breathless outpouring, balanced on a pivot point of surrender and control. This 35-minute window onto the performance captures several highlights: the deep sway of “Don’t Break,” propelled by Sumbry’s assured polyrhythms; the imploring gospel tonalities of “Fugitive Ritual, Selah,” which elicits a brilliantly paced solo by Thomas; the ferocious intensity of “Lighthouse,” which finds Wilkins steering his band through dark, choppy seas.
Wilkins has created a work of sustained power in The 7th Hand, using methods ranging from classical motivic development to the ecstatic cry of the Pentecostal church. What grounds the entire piece is a sworn commitment to the present moment, with an unspoken conviction that some truth will come flowing through.
To learn more about Wilkins, listen to our radio episode on him, part of our Youngbloods series: www.npr.org/20...
SET LIST: All songs by Immanuel Wilkins
00:08 Don’t Break
07:02 Fugitive Ritual, Selah
21:41 Lighthouse
MUSICIANS:
Immanuel Wilkins, alto sax
Micah Thomas, piano
Daryl Johns, Bass
Kweku Sumbry, drums
Head to the Jazz Night in America homepage for more episodes, including our weekly radio show, full-length concert films and short video documentaries: www.npr.org/jaz...
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