{"title":"Immanuel Wilkins","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn 7 August 1997 in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania (Delaware County), Immanuel Wilkins is an alto saxophonist and composer whose music is filled with empathy and conviction, bonding arcs of melody and lamentation to pluming gestures of space and breath, described by Pitchfork as someone who \"composes ocean-deep jazz epics\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilkins moved to New York City in 2015 to attend the Juilliard School, studying under Bruce Williams, Steve Wilson, and Joe Temperley, where he met trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire who mentored him and helped him navigate the jazz scene, and pianist Jason Moran who took the young saxophonist on tour. In what was one of his biggest early gigs, Wilkins played alto in Moran's \u003cem\u003eIn My Mind: Monk at Town Hall, 1959\u003c\/em\u003e, a series of live performances honouring Thelonious Monk's legacy. He has since worked with diverse artists including Solange Knowles, Gretchen Parlato, Wynton Marsalis, Gerald Clayton, Aaron Parks, and Joel Ross, making a striking appearance on the vibraphonist's 2019 Blue Note debut \u003cem\u003eKingMaker\u003c\/em\u003e. His acclaimed debut album \u003cem\u003eOmega\u003c\/em\u003e, produced by Jason Moran and released on Blue Note in 2020, was a meditation on the Black experience in America that The New York Times named the number one Jazz Album of 2020, introducing his remarkable quartet with Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass, and Kweku Sumbry on drums.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis stunning sophomore album \u003cem\u003eThe 7th Hand\u003c\/em\u003e appeared in 2022, exploring relationships between presence and nothingness across an hour-long suite comprised of seven movements including the 26-minute \"Lift\". The album won the 2021 LetterOne RISING STARS Jazz Award. His expansive third studio album \u003cem\u003eBlues Blood\u003c\/em\u003e appeared in 2024, a meditative offering co-produced by Meshell Ndegeocello featuring his quartet with Thomas, Rick Rosato on bass, and Sumbry on drums, plus vocalists Ganavya, June McDoom, and Cécile McLorin Salvant. The album received a 2026 Grammy nomination in the Best Alternative Jazz Album category. Wilkins is a member of Out Of\/Into, the all-star collective formerly known as the Blue Note Quintet featuring Gerald Clayton, Joel Ross, Kendrick Scott, and Matt Brewer, and teaches at NYU and The New School whilst also giving masterclasses at Oberlin, Yale, and the Kimmel Center, where he served as Artist in Residence in 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"immanuel-wilkins-the-7th-hand-2022-blue-note-gold-2lp-special-edition","title":"Immanuel Wilkins - The 7th Hand (2022 Blue Note Gold 2LP Special Edition)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eImmanuel Wilkins - \u003cem\u003eThe 7th Hand\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eDouble Vinyl LP - 2022 Blue Note Special Edition Gold\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eModern spiritual jazz masterpiece\u003c\/strong\u003e - Wilkins' acclaimed sophomore album following breakthrough debut\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSpecial edition gold vinyl\u003c\/strong\u003e - limited 2LP pressing with Sterling Sound lacquer cutting\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContemporary Blue Note at its finest\u003c\/strong\u003e - quartet exploring Coltrane's lineage for today\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins' second Blue Note album expands the spiritual jazz vision established on his acclaimed 2020 debut Omega, the quartet of Wilkins, pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Daryl Johns, and drummer Kweku Sumbry exploring eight compositions across two LPs. The album's title references both the biblical seventh day of rest and the concept of divine intervention, Wilkins' music seeking transcendence through collective improvisation and spiritual searching. Released on 28 January 2022 by Blue Note as a special edition gold vinyl 2LP with lacquers cut at Sterling Sound, this pressing captures Wilkins continuing to establish himself as one of contemporary jazz's most compelling voices, his alto saxophone work drawing from John Coltrane's spiritual explorations while creating distinctly modern statements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilkins' compositional approach balances written material with extended improvisational sections, the quartet developing themes through patient collective exploration rather than rapid solo exchanges. His alto saxophone playing demonstrates both technical command and emotional directness, his tone singing and urgent, his phrases building intensity through repetition and gradual development echoing Coltrane's modal explorations. Thomas' piano work provides both harmonic foundation and independent melodic voice, his comping creating spaces for the saxophone while his solos contribute to the music's spiritual dimension. Johns' bass and Sumbry's drums function as more than rhythm section, their interaction creating polyrhythmic complexity and dynamic range essential to the music's architecture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe eight compositions explore different facets of Wilkins' vision, from the opening \"Emanation\" through \"Don't Break\", \"Fugitive Ritual, Selah\", and the closing \"Lift\" plus a D2C exclusive track, each piece balancing structure with freedom. The album's extended format across two LPs allows development impossible within single LP constraints, the quartet's explorations given space to breathe and evolve organically. Lacquer cut at Sterling Sound and pressed on special edition gold vinyl, this Blue Note release demonstrates the label's continued commitment to contemporary creative jazz, Wilkins representing the younger generation carrying forward spiritual jazz traditions while speaking to present-day concerns and aesthetics.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blue Note","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43218887147579,"sku":null,"price":80.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/ImmanuelWilkins_The7thHand_cover.webp?v=1771196846"},{"product_id":"immanuel-wilkins-quartet-live-at-the-village-vanguard-vol-1-2026-blue-note-gatefold-2lp","title":"Immanuel Wilkins Quartet - Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 (2026 Blue Note Gatefold 2LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eImmanuel Wilkins Quartet - \u003cem\u003eLive at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1\u003c\/em\u003e | 2 x Vinyl LP - 2026 Blue Note (00602488170871, GZ Media)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImmanuel Wilkins was born in 1997 in Philadelphia. He studied at Juilliard. His Blue Note debut \u003cem\u003eOmega\u003c\/em\u003e arrived in 2020 and was followed by \u003cem\u003eThe 7th Hand\u003c\/em\u003e in 2022, both Grammy-nominated. This quartet has been his working band from the start: Micah Thomas on piano, Ryoma Takenaga on bass, Kweku Sumbry on drums. On May 15 and 16, 2025, they played the Village Vanguard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Warriors\" opens the record. It originally appeared on \u003cem\u003eOmega\u003c\/em\u003e as a studio track; the live version here runs fourteen minutes, the solos extended past anything the studio had allowed. Wilkins's alto carries echoes of Eric Dolphy's angularity and Coltrane's spiritual intensity without imitating either. Thomas's piano solo follows at the same level of commitment. \"Composition II\" is the quietest piece, modelled on Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Takenaga's bass given an extended solo that draws the room into silence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Charanam\" on Side C is Alice Coltrane's devotional composition. Wilkins brings it into the set as the one piece not written by a member of the band. Thomas opens with a piano vamp that builds slowly before Wilkins enters, his alto tone shifting toward something more oboe-like as the piece develops through eighteen minutes. \"Eternal\" closes Vol. 1 at nearly twenty minutes. The final thirteen minutes consist of the quartet repeating a measured 11-note phrase in a cycle that is profoundly hypnotic. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the first of three volumes. Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 followed digitally in April and May 2026. Pressed by GZ Media; lacquers cut at Sterling Sound Nashville.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blue Note","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43602302009403,"sku":null,"price":100.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IW_LAVV_V1_FRONT_R2_3000PX.webp?v=1781134280"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/immanuel-wilkins.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}