Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 1 (Live) by Immanuel Wilkins

Review: Immanuel Wilkins - Immanuel Wilkins Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard Vol. 1 (Live)

Skyrocketing through the ranks to find himself among the most accomplished young musicians of his generation, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins has spent the past few years releasing a series of highly sophisticated studio albums for the Blue Note label (Omega in 2020, The 7th Hand in 2022, and especially Blues Blood in 2024). For this latest release, he’s turned to a more direct form of expression, that is, the first live album of his career. For this first volume of a three-part series slated to depict concerts held in the frenetic atmosphere of the infamous Village Vanguard, the saxophonist, leading his usual quartet, whose bond has been forged through years of working together, demonstrates the full scope of his creative powers through four lengthy tracks that span a wide variety of forms and moods. 

Stimulated by the unbridled strength of an organic rhythm section animated by the complex polyrhythms courtesy of drummer Kweku Sumbry and illuminated by the shimmering interjections of pianist Micah Thomas (another crown jewel of the young New York jazz scene!), over the course of the album’s four tracks, Wilkins goes from a feisty, energetic style that highlights his sense for swing and exceptional technical skill (“Warriors”) to more inward-looking atmospheres. Going from sentimental, sensual ballads (“Composition II”) to more abstract improvisations (the long, surprising piece “Eternal” and the Alice Coltrane cover “Charanam,” which unfurls like a hallucinatory mantra), it would be fair to qualify the album’s overarching tone as spiritual, its intense lyricism definitively proving the richness and depth of Wilkins’ universe. © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz